Road closures around Mar-a-Lago began Saturday, will last until at least after election day

Road closures around former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club began early Saturday morning and will last at least through election day on Nov. 5, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.

The closures have begun earlier and will extend farther north than previously announced, taking town residents and drivers by surprise.

FDOT closed South Ocean Boulevard, also known as State Road A1A, beginning at 5 a.m. Saturday, a spokesman said Friday. The town soon after confirmed the update in an alert sent to residents.

The indefinite closure extends from South Ocean's intersection with South County Road in the north, to the traffic circle with Southern Boulevard just south of Mar-a-Lago, he said.

The closure applies to vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, he said, adding that those who live between South County and Woodbridge roads will only be able to access their properties from the north. Law enforcement and fire rescue vehicles will be able to access from both the south and north, he said.

The Palm Beach Police Department previously announced that the closure would extend from Woodbridge Road just north of Mar-a-Lago to the traffic circle, and that it would begin at 4 p.m. Saturday.

While FDOT said the closure is "indefinite," Palm Beach Police said it would last through the Nov. 5 general election "at a minimum."

"The U.S. Secret Service has made this decision, neither Town Officials nor the Town Council," Palm Beach said in its Friday alert. "The Town is working closely with the U.S. Secret Service to minimize the impacts of this road closure. The Town plans to pursue legal options to ensure that the road remains open in the absence of the protected person(s) in residence."

Trump, the Republican nominee for president, was shot Saturday evening as he spoke at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. Three others were shot, including one who died and two who were injured, Pennsylvania officials said. The gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot and killed by the Secret Service.

The closure is necessary "due to enhanced security measures involving Mar-a-Lago and U.S. Secret Service-protected persons," the alert from Palm Beach Police said. Mar-a-Lago is Trump's primary residence.

The road closing plan caught town officials off-guard.

Palm Beach Police spokesman Capt. Will Rothrock said the department learned of the planned road closure earlier Thursday.

Council member Bridget Moran said Thursday she understands the need to protect Trump while he is in town, but she expressed concern about potential traffic impacts the road closure could create.

"This will put pressure on our already over-burdened roads," she told the Daily News. "It is my hope that we explore any options to alleviate this burden and be understanding of the situation."

Town Manager Kirk Blouin said Palm Beach plans to explore those options beginning next week, telling the Daily News the town would be unable to shut down the road indefinitely "unless we're ordered to."

"If there's a protectee in residence, it makes sense," he said. "If there's no one there, I don't understand the road closure at this moment. I don't know the information that the government may have, or if it's a knee-jerk reaction. But for this weekend, it will be closed, and we're going to get more information next week. We're going to challenge the permanent road closure. And we'll try to work, obviously, with the federal government. We think anyone, regardless of political affiliation, should have the necessary protections to keep them safe. But we've got to have other options."

Blouin said the town plans to request a letter from the Secret Service ordering the closure of South Ocean Boulevard.

"Absent a protectee being in Mar-a-Lago, we're not willing to shut the road down," he said. "That's my opinion. The council may decide otherwise."

Council member Lew Crampton, a South End resident, said he was opposed to permanent road closures around Mar-a-Lago and would support efforts to discuss alternatives with the Secret Service.

"Road closures are understandable when (Trump) is in residence," he said. "We went through all of this when he was president, and we certainly can go through it again, no question. But it isolates the South End, because we have to cross a bridge and visit West Palm Beach before we can get to downtown."

Mayor Danielle Moore also expressed concerns about closing down South Ocean Boulevard near Mar-a-Lago when Trump was not there, telling the Daily News she has heard from numerous residents who were opposed to those plans.

"I certainly understand why the Secret Service has reacted that way after the tragedy of last weekend," she said. "That being said, just speaking of logistics, I have some questions about what the purpose is of closing South Ocean Boulevard when there's nothing out there but water. I have more concerns coming from the west side of Mar-a-Lago. The chief of police has obviously been working very closely with the Secret Service, and I think the plan may change. There may be an alternative down the line. But at the moment, it would be considered, in my mind, making an already bad traffic situation a thousand times worse."

"The safety and security of our protectees is the U.S. Secret Service’s top priority," a Secret Service spokesperson said in an emailed statement to the Daily News. "Out of concern for operational security, the Secret Service does not discuss the means and methods used for our protective operations."

Past closures lasted days, weeks – not months

The closure announced Thursday and set to take effect Saturday is different from the closures when Trump was in office from 2017 to 2021, when officials would close South Ocean Boulevard as Trump arrived at his Mar-a-Lago residence, and reopen the road when he departed.

Then, the longest closures were typically when Trump and his family would gather at Mar-a-Lago for Christmas and New Year’s.

Trump's frequent visits to Palm Beach as president meant frequent road closures that frustrated some residents and town officials. This will be the first road closure of its length next to Mar-a-Lago, and the first since the town experienced exponential growth in traffic following an influx of new residents and visitors since the COVID-19 pandemic.

When Trump in 2019 declared Mar-a-Lago to be his permanent residence — it for decades was his home in Trump Tower in Manhattan — some neighbors opposed the move, saying that Trump could not live there based on a Declaration of Use agreement he signed with the town in 1993 to convert the private residence to a private club.

Then-Town Attorney John Randolph, who retired last year, said in May of 2021 that the agreement did not ban Trump from living at the club, and that under the town's zoning code, Trump could live at Mar-a-Lago as a "bona fide employee."

The neighbors who opposed Trump living at Mar-a-Lago cited security concerns and a potential for lower property values.

More security measures added

While Trump’s post-White House stays at Mar-a-Lago have not continued to prompt closures of South Ocean, the Secret Service has continued to look for ways to protect a former president who essentially lives in a fishbowl.

The club is open to its members and their guests, along with members of the public who attend events held at the National Historic Landmark, which during Trump's four years in office played host to weddings, fundraising galas, ladies' lunches and more.

Mar-a-Lago stands up to its name, which means "ocean to lake," in that it has two waterfront property lines along the Intracoastal Waterway to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. When Trump was in office and visiting Palm Beach, the U.S. Coast Guard limited and closely monitored boat traffic in both bodies of water adjacent to Mar-a-Lago.

Adding to that challenge are two busy roads, South Ocean and Southern boulevards, that run along the property. South Ocean cuts a north-south line between the main Mar-a-Lago property and the beachfront club, and Southern runs east-west along the club's southern boundary.

The Secret Service and Mar-a-Lago in May of 2023 received approval to build a guardhouse at the club's main entrance on South Ocean Boulevard, with the federal agency citing a need for better, more permanent protections for the former president and his family. The guardhouse also would provide protection for the Secret Service agents who screen each entrant to the property, the agency told the town.

The approved guardhouse design includes materials that are resistant to explosions and bullets, officials told the Town Council during the plan’s review.

As part of the council's approval of the guardhouse, Palm Beach officials required Mar-a-Lago, its security team and the Secret Service to work with the town to redo the outdated traffic management plan for the club, which did not take into account the added security of a former president in residence, or the increased number of attendees at events that are booked at Mar-a-Lago.

The traffic management plan's details, approved by the council in May, included elements that relied upon the South Ocean Boulevard entrance. It's unclear what effect the closure will have on that plan.

Secret Service scrutinized for protection

Since the attempted assassination at the July 13 rally, the Secret Service has been scrutinized by some federal officials and politicians for a perceived lack of action, after several reports indicated that the shooter’s presence at the rally was known.

Security at Trump’s properties reportedly has been under review, and Trump’s campaign sent a memo to staffers telling them to avoid campaign offices in West Palm Beach and Washington, D.C.

The announcement about the road closure was made just hours before Trump was slated to speak during the final night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Trump has not been to Palm Beach since the shooting. After he received medical care for a bullet wound to his right ear, Trump spent several days at his club in Bedminster, N.J., before traveling to Wisconsin for the convention.

Additional security also was reported at Trump Tower in New York City Saturday evening.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Road closures, detours at Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach until election