Palm Beach Gardens is close to finishing a bike lane that, by the City's description, no other city in Palm Beach County has. It is a two-way track on the south side of Burns Road, separated from traffic by concrete instead of paint, running from Military Trail east to Alternate A1A. Its west end is the City Hall Municipal Campus at 10500 N. Military Trail, which is also where the Gardens GreenMarket sets up every Sunday through the end of May.
That overlap in time and place is what makes the project interesting this fall. The market season started on October 4. The cycle track is expected to open sometime between now and December. If it opens on schedule, about six months of market Sundays will be left, and you'll be able to ride them on a route with a curb between you and the cars.
What is actually going in the ground
The details explain why this route will feel different from the painted bike lanes most South Florida riders know. As Gold Coast Wave reported on October 12, the track is about 9.5 feet wide, and riders going in both directions share it, much like a trail. A concrete curb about a foot and a half wide and six inches tall separates the track from the travel lanes. The City also plans bike symbols along the route, with green paint here and there to mark it.
The Palm Beach MPO's project list carries the work as project 4490051 and describes it the same way: a 9.5-foot separated two-way bicycle track on Burns Road from Military Trail to Alternate A1A.
Because the track is two-way, everything happens on one side of the street. A rider going east and a rider coming back west both stay on the south side of Burns Road, so neither one has to cross four lanes to turn around. Gold Coast Wave pointed out the practical benefit for the City as well, which only had to build the protected lane once.
The ride, west to east
Starting at the market and riding toward the Intracoastal side of the city, these are the places on the route:
- City Hall Municipal Campus, 10500 N. Military Trail. This is home to the Gardens GreenMarket, open Sundays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. from October 4, 2026, through May 30, 2027, as listed by The Palm Beaches. Gardens Park sits next door.
- Burns Road Community Center. It is across the street from the City Hall campus, and the City uses its lot as overflow parking for the market. Gold Coast Wave lists it as one of the places the track passes.
- The Weiss School signal, 4176 Burns Road. This traffic light marked the east limit of the City's first construction phase.
- Ironwood Road. Summer repaving ran from Military Trail to this point, just short of Alternate A1A.
- Alternate A1A. This is the eastern end of the track, where Burns Road meets the corridor of shops and restaurants.
The protection ends at Alternate A1A. Past that point you are back in regular traffic, so plan any errand on the corridor knowing the curb stops where Burns Road does.
Why the market end matters most
The GreenMarket already pulls more traffic than its own lot can hold. The City's kickoff notice sent overflow parking to Gardens Park and to the Burns Road Community Center. On a busy Sunday, a bike is one less car competing for those spaces, and the new track runs right along the campus edge.
Two market rules carry over to anyone arriving by bike. The City's kickoff notice asks visitors to leave pets at home, citing City ordinance, so the market isn't a dog-walk stop. The market also runs rain or shine. This season's kickoff added a free Stretch & Shop class from Core Centrix at the Veterans Plaza Amphitheater. That's a sign the City treats the campus as a Sunday morning outing, not only a place to buy produce.
Gold Coast Wave made the broader case for who the curb is meant to serve. The experienced commuter was already riding Burns Road. In its account, a separated lane is the kind of route a parent with a ten-year-old, a retiree on a beach cruiser, or a teenager heading to a friend's house will actually use. A Sunday trip to a farmers market is exactly that kind of short, unhurried ride.
At the other end, the errands
At the east end of the corridor is Promenade Shopping Plaza, at 9900 Alternate A1A. It is home to the Publix at Promenade Shopping Plaza. Publix opened this store on May 8, 2025, according to the company's newsroom announcement.
Two dining options sit in the same cluster. Miller's Ale House is at 9800 Alternate A1A. NEVS Barbecue is at 9910 Alternate A1A, Unit 709. Florida Weekly's report on its opening places it in Promenade Plaza as well.
With both ends in mind, the route's value is easy to see. A Sunday could start with produce at City Hall and end with groceries or lunch on Alternate A1A, and nearly all of the riding in between would be behind a curb.
When "done" actually arrives
Construction started Monday, April 13, 2026. The repaving happened over the summer on an overnight schedule, 7 p.m. to 5 a.m., Monday through Thursday, so the road stayed open during the day. With the paving finished, what remains is the track itself.
The finish date depends on which source you read:
- The City's construction notice says work is expected to last through late November 2026.
- Gold Coast Wave, citing the City's project page on October 12, gives the target as October or November.
- The Palm Beach MPO's project list, last updated March 4, 2026, shows estimated completion in December 2026.
As of mid-October, no ribbon-cutting date had been announced. Together the three estimates point to completion between now and the end of the year. Even at the latest of them, the market would have five months of Sundays left before it closes on May 30, 2027.
In the meantime, the City's notice for the first phase said drivers would see lane closures on Burns Road from Military Trail to the Weiss School signal, with at least one lane open at all times. Gold Coast Wave advises expecting work zones along the south side of Burns Road anywhere between Military Trail and Alternate A1A until the track is finished. Questions about the project go to the City's Engineering Department at 561-804-7012.
Who paid for the curb
Gold Coast Wave reported the total project cost as $1,433,502.81. About $1.3 million of that is a grant through the Palm Beach County Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Florida Department of Transportation. The City covers the remaining $131,321.81 from its Mobility Impact Fund. That puts the City's share at roughly one dollar of every eleven.
The MPO's own list, as of its March 4, 2026 update, shows the project at $1.4 million total with $891,000 in MPO funding. The two sources agree on the overall size of the project but not on how much of it the grant covers, so treat the funding split as approximate. Either way, the City is paying for only a small slice of the corridor's new curb.
If you'd like to talk about how the Burns Road corridor fits the part of the Gardens you call home, Robert Floyd Realty is glad to help. Let's Connect.
