The town has received a much-needed break from the security measures federal authorities have put in place to protect President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club, even when he is not in residence.
The coastal road next to Mar-a-Lago recently reopened to through-traffic, about two months after the U.S. Secret Service ordered its indefinite closure. South Ocean Boulevard is open to both northbound and southbound travel.
That’s likely welcome news for Palm Beach residents, whose routines often have been disrupted by the growing number of security measures in place to protect the president.
The decision to reopen the road is a good move by the Secret Service — and one that will make life easier for people on the island. It also presents an excellent opportunity for federal and regional officials to assess the effectiveness of security measures and their effects on the town.
Security-related closures near Mar-a-Lago have stopped traffic from flowing freely when South Ocean Boulevard is shut down under federal and local security orders.
The road had been closed between the Southern Boulevard traffic circle and South County Road since March 3, cutting the town in half. That caused drivers to detour to and from the mainland via drawbridges, a big problem during the latter part of the season.
Now that the road has reopened, it likely will remain so for some time, as Trump is not likely to return to Mar-a-Lago in the near future, according to a May 4 statement from the Secret Service.
Before the road closed, security measures for Mar-a-Lago implemented by the Secret Service and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office typically included closing the road only when Mr. Trump visited. In the early days of the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, Secret Service officials said closing the road around-the-clock was part of additional security.
In a letter to Palm Beach County communities and law enforcement agencies, Michael Townsend, acting special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Miami office, wrote that there are no anticipated visits to Mar-a-Lago by people protected by the Secret Service for several months.
Giving the town a breather from extraordinary presidential security — however necessary those measures were — is warranted.
Security has been a priority around Mar-a-Lago even before Mr. Trump took office for his first term in 2017.
But since the beginning of this season, security measures have been strengthened to deal with what federal officials have said are growing threats to Mr. Trump and his family. Besides the road closings, they have included altered flight paths over Mar-a-Lago that have sent planes over neighborhoods that never before had to deal with the accompanying noise and soot.
The security situation has been complicated by international tensions amid the Iran war.
In his letter about the road reopening, Townsend said the Secret Service understood the disruption the closure had caused during the island’s busy season.
“We recognize that the Palm Beach community has been asked to navigate a number of inconveniences due to the security posture surrounding the President’s private residence. That is not lost on us,” Townsend wrote. “I want to sincerely thank you for the patience, understanding, and support you have shown as we carry out our mission to protect the President of the United States during a time when the threat environment remains heightened and dynamic.”
In any case, the summer break presents a good opportunity for the Secret Service, the Sheriff’s Office and other authorities to review how such heavy security affects the president’s island neighbors on Palm Beach. The next season, after all, is fewer than six months away.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Road’s opening signals time to assess Mar-a-Lago security | Editorial
Reporting by Palm Beach Daily News Editorial Board, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
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