Message from Commissioner Burt Aaronson

There are several exciting things happening in District 5. I want to take a moment to update you on these issues.

Construction has begun at the site of the new 5,500 square foot Fire Rescue facility on Flavor Pict Road between Hagen Ranch Road and Jog Road. It is scheduled to open in late summer/early fall and I look forward to joining you at the Grand Opening. This new station will help to improve response times for residents in the West Boynton and West Delray areas.

Palm Tran is launching "The Link" this month. The Link is a route deviation service that consists of seven routes serving residential and gated communities where fixed route service is not available. The Link stops at shopping locations, medical centers and Tri-Rail stations and connects to existing Palm Tran routes. The Link will deviate up to three-quarters of a mile from its planned routes for scheduled pick-ups and drop-offs and will have scheduled stops in addition to "flag down" locations along the route. Trips can be scheduled 72 hours in advance and cost $.50 each way. All vehicles are ADA accessible. The seven routes are labeled by colors. In District 5, we have the Purple Link which operates on Tuesdays and runs from Oriole Plaza to Boynton Beach Blvd./Military Trail via Hagen Ranch Road. The Magenta Link operates on Thursdays and runs from the Boca Raton Tri-Rail Station to the Reserve Shopping Center via Yamato Rd. and State Road 7. The Lime Link operates Wednesdays and runs from the Caridad Center to Nassau Square via Lyons Rd. The Link will certainly compliment our existing Palm Tran big bus routes and Palm Tran Connection. For additional information, contact my staff, visit Palm Tran’s website, www.palmtran.org or call Palm Tran at 561-649-9838.

Most of you know that pedestrian signals display the flashing Walk/steady Don’t Walk messages in conjunction with traffic signals. I saw another type of pedestrian signal called a pedestrian countdown signal and discussed this alternative with the County Engineer. These signals contain a timer display that counts down and shows the number of seconds left to finish crossing the street. Seven pedestrian countdown signals are being installed in District 5. The first signal located at the Monaco entrance to Kings Point on Jog. Rd. was just completed. The remaining signals will be installed in the near future.

The Palm Beach County Library Digital Media Collection is a new service that provides cardholders access to downloadable audiobooks. You can browse and check out hundreds of popular titles, download them to your home computer and transfer them to a portable device. Many titles can also be burned onto CD for use in a standard car CD player. For further information, please visit: http://www.pbclibrary.org/audiobooks.htm.

As always, I invite your comments on any issue of interest to you. As your Commissioner, I am here to help you. You may write me at 301 N. Olive Ave., West Palm Beach, 33401 or call my staff at 276-1310 or toll free at 877-930-2205. You can also email me at baaronso@co.palm-beach.fl.us.