Brandon and Lynn Pote live directly across the street from Greenacres Elementary School, but getting their daughter to class means walking or driving across a five-lane road carrying speeding traffic around the clock. The family does not qualify for school bus service, despite living close enough to see the campus from their front door, and they say Haverhill Road offers no safe way for their daughter, who is developmentally delayed and cannot walk fast enough to cross safely, to make the trip on foot.
The Potes are among several families zoned for Greenacres Elementary who are now demanding a crosswalk and a school zone designation at Haverhill Road and Carver Street, according to WPTV. Brandon Pote told the station that Haverhill Road is dangerous and urged officials to install a crosswalk and make the area a school zone before someone gets hurt or killed. He and his wife currently carry their daughter across the street themselves rather than let her attempt the crossing alone.
No Crosswalk, No Bus, No Easy Answer
The nearest guarded crosswalks are located near Greenacres Christian Academy and at 10th and Swain, but families say that existing crossing point is too far from Greenacres Elementary for regular use, per the same WPTV report. Neighbor Omar Trevino has also requested a crosswalk and stoplight at the intersection, sharing similar concerns about student safety. Meanwhile, children in the area have reportedly attempted to cross Haverhill Road on e-bikes and scooters, and the station reported that a child nearly suffered a collision with a passing car. A car crash reportedly occurred on Haverhill Road before the WPTV interview even started, and vehicles speed up and down the roadway around the clock, according to families who spoke with the outlet.
The problem stems from a gap between state busing law and county road design. Palm Beach County Public Schools transportation policy mandates free school bus service only for regular education students who live more than two miles from their assigned campus, according to the Palm Beach County School District. That leaves families like the Potes, who live close enough to walk, without transportation and without a safe crossing. Florida Statute § 1006.23 does allow families to request a hazardous-walking-condition evaluation, which requires school districts to assess walking routes and coordinate with local road authorities, but WPTV reported that the county and school district had not yet responded to its inquiries seeking solutions.
A Five-Lane Arterial Built for Speed, Not Foot Traffic
Haverhill Road is a five-lane north-south arterial under Palm Beach County jurisdiction, carrying between 16,000 and more than 30,000 vehicle trips a day depending on the segment, with a posted speed limit of 40 mph, according to the City of Greenacres Safe Streets for All Action Plan. The road features only 4-to-5-foot sidewalks and paved shoulders, offering little buffer for pedestrians navigating fast-moving traffic. Because Haverhill Road falls under county rather than city control, any new crosswalk or school zone would require coordination between the school district, city council, and county traffic engineers.
That jurisdictional split has slowed safety fixes before, even as both the city and county have taken broader steps elsewhere. In January, the City of Greenacres and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office launched a School Zone Speed Safety Program deploying automated speed cameras at 16 school zone locations citywide. In May, the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners adopted a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan funded by a federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant, creating a High Injury Network to prioritize crosswalk improvements based on crash data from 2019 through 2023.
A Corridor With a History of Close Calls and Fatalities
The concerns raised by families near Greenacres Elementary echo other recent Hoodline reporting on the same stretch of the city. In April, a hit-and-run crash killed a cyclist near Haverhill Road on 10th Avenue at dawn. In June, a pedestrian was struck and killed while crossing Military Trail mid-block outside a marked crosswalk. And earlier this month, parents near a different Palm Beach County elementary school raised similar alarms after a school U-turn traffic order they said was putting kids at risk.
Countywide, the numbers back up the anxiety in Greenacres. Palm Beach County recorded 713 pedestrian crashes and 54 pedestrian fatalities in 2023, according to data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles relayed by Injury Law Florida. South Florida counties account for nearly 36% of all pedestrian crashes statewide. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Palm Beach metro area ranked 17th most dangerous in the nation for pedestrians in Smart Growth America's 2026 “Dangerous by Design” report, as covered by WUSF, with Florida ranking fifth among all states for pedestrian fatality rates and recording 3,726 pedestrian deaths between 2020 and 2024.
A Precedent for Getting Officials to Act
Greenacres has changed course under pressure before. In 2018, student safety advocacy led then-Mayor Joel Flores and the Florida Department of Transportation to establish a dedicated school speed zone on 10th Avenue North near L.C. Swain Middle School after residents complained about speeding drivers near students. Families near Greenacres Elementary are hoping similar pressure will move Haverhill Road toward a crosswalk and school zone designation, though for now, the county and school district have not publicly responded to the safety concerns raised by WPTV.
