Palm Beach County commissioners have approved plans for GL Homes’ 12th Valencia community, a 481-unit high-end development west of Boynton Beach , despite concerns over the traffic impact on heavily traveled Lyons Road .
County Mayor Maria Sachs on Thursday, Oct. 24, unsuccessfully called on her colleagues to put off approving the project until Lyons is widened to four lanes from two. That won’t happen at least until late 2026, and road projects have routinely missed their completion dates in recent years, a source of frustration for commissioners.
Construction of Whitworth South, the community’s tentative name, is expected to begin in 2025. With the first homeowners expected to move in late next year, more traffic will be added onto either failing or near-failing roads within a 2-mile radius of Whitworth South. And 259 of those trips would occur during peak-hour times, according to the traffic study prepared for GL Homes.
Whitworth South is expected to open before Lyons Road is widened
“We are going to have all this traffic going onto a road that the applicant’s own traffic expert says is deficient,” said Sachs. “Give us the time to build the infrastructure. This is not good for the people.”…