Heading north from Palm Beach Farms to Mizner Park on a Saturday in November, which lane will you be in at Camino Real? Through the end of this project, the answer depends partly on the date. The Florida Department of Transportation's work on U.S. 1 runs from Camino Real north to NE 8th Street and Mizner Boulevard. Its closure rules treat a downtown festival day differently from an ordinary Tuesday.
Palm Beach Farms sits on the south end of Boca Raton between Federal Highway and I-95, so this stretch is the most direct way to Royal Palm Place, Plaza Real and the amphitheater. The project changes that route in two ways. Lane capacity on the northbound side comes out of the road for good. During construction, the most disruptive closures are kept off the days downtown is busiest.
What permanently changes between Camino Real and SE 5th Street
The project is FDOT contract T4740, project number 438386-5-52-01. It is a 1.3-mile, $6.3 million job awarded to General Asphalt Company, LLC, with an August 2026 start on FDOT's project page. Boca Daily News reported the award on August 14, 2026 and said construction would begin within weeks.
The road splits into two segments, and they get different treatment:
- Camino Real to SE Mizner Boulevard/SE 5th Street: the 11-foot outside lane is eliminated and the median is narrowed. That space becomes 7-foot separated bike lanes and 11-foot-wide sidewalks.
- SE Mizner Boulevard/SE 5th Street to NE Mizner Boulevard/NE 8th Street: only the median narrows, making room for matching 7-foot separated bike lanes. No travel lane is removed.
- Throughout: milling and resurfacing, upgraded pedestrian push buttons and signal heads, ADA curb ramp work, and new signs and pavement markings.
The lane reduction sits on the southern segment, the part a driver from south Boca reaches first. When FDOT presented the plan in June 2025, the Boca Raton Tribune reported that it would take a short six-lane stretch of northbound Federal Highway, from Camino Real to the turn onto Mizner at 5th, from three lanes to two. The lane reduction described at that meeting was a northbound change, on the side a driver uses to head from south Boca into downtown.
That 2025 presentation also described a speed limit reduction from 40 to 35 mph on that northbound stretch. FDOT's current project page says the speed limit within the project limits "will remain at 35 mph." Either way, 35 mph is the posted figure for the corridor as built.
The intersection gets bigger while the road gets narrower
At Camino Real, the project adds capacity. FDOT is replacing the existing signals at U.S. 1 and Camino Real with mast arms and building a second left-turn lane for northbound traffic, a change the department describes as improving "intersection operations and capacity."
Read the two pieces together and the design is clear. North of Camino Real, a northbound lane is converted to bike and pedestrian space. At Camino Real itself, the northbound approach gains a turn lane. The project's capacity is concentrated at the intersection where south Boca meets the downtown grid, and the straight run toward Mizner gives up a lane to separated bike lanes and wide sidewalks.
The same logic shows up farther north. A new signalized mid-block crosswalk with added lighting is planned south of Plaza Real. That puts a protected crossing on Federal Highway near the Boca Raton Museum of Art at 501 Plaza Real. The 2025 Tribune report said the second pedestrian crossing then under discussion would require a city traffic study before FDOT could consider it. The project as awarded includes the one mid-block crossing.
Closure rules written around downtown's calendar
The permanent design reshapes the road. The temporary rules control what the next year of driving feels like, and they carry a specific condition. On the segment between Camino Real and SE 5th Street, single-lane closures are allowed in either direction with no time restriction. Two-lane closures are allowed only "during non-peak hours on non-event days, nights, and weekends," inside these windows:
| Segment | Closure type | Direction | Permitted window per FDOT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camino Real to SE 5th St/SE Mizner Blvd | Single lane | Both | No restrictions |
| Camino Real to SE 5th St/SE Mizner Blvd | Two lanes | Northbound | 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. |
| Camino Real to SE 5th St/SE Mizner Blvd | Two lanes | Southbound | 7:30 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. |
| SE 5th St/SE Mizner Blvd to NE 8th St/NE Mizner Blvd | Single lane | Northbound | 7:30 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. |
| SE 5th St/SE Mizner Blvd to NE 8th St/NE Mizner Blvd | Single lane | Southbound | 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 a.m. |
FDOT also states that access to businesses and residences will be maintained at all times.
The "non-event days" condition matters most this fall. The Downtown Boca calendar lists a run of events at the north end of this corridor between now and New Year's Eve:
- November 7–8: Hot Works Fine Art Show in Sanborn Square, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- November 7: The Tequila Festival at Mizner Park Amphitheater, 4 to 8 p.m.
- November 14: The Savor Boca Experience in Downtown Boca, 1 to 6 p.m.
- November 21: Natalie Cuomo at The Studio at Mizner Park, 7 to 9 p.m.
- December 5: Holiday Pops Concert at Mizner Park Amphitheater, 6 to 8 p.m.
- December 8–9: Christmas with Chris Ruggiero at The Studio at Mizner Park, 7 to 9 p.m. both nights.
- December 12–13: Hot Works Fine Art Show returns to Sanborn Square, with Rabbi Bob Alper at The Studio at Mizner Park on the evening of December 12.
- December 31: Vegas Magician Murray Sawchuck at The Studio at Mizner Park, 6 to 8 p.m.
FDOT's page does not define "event day." The rule still makes the contractor's two-lane closure schedule depend on what is happening downtown, and the busiest stretch of that calendar falls in the first full season of construction.
None of this rules out a narrow road on an ordinary day. Single-lane closures can happen at any hour, and one is in place now. BocaNewsNow's October 4 traffic report said northbound U.S. 1 is reduced to one lane between Camino Real and SE 5th Street/SE Mizner Boulevard through Friday, October 16. It also said one lane in each direction at Camino Real would close intermittently from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday, October 5 through Friday, October 9, for signal work. That signal-work window has passed. The northbound single-lane restriction runs for another week.
For anything beyond that, FDOT publishes lane-closure and pedestrian-impact updates in its weekly traffic report, posted under the Palm Beach County construction listings on d4fdot.com.
Where the trip ends this season
The north end of the work zone is also where the destinations are. Royal Palm Place describes itself as a 14-acre downtown destination with more than 20 eateries, boutiques and residences. It sits along SE Mizner Boulevard, so a drive there from Palm Beach Farms passes through the narrowed northbound segment.
Two Royal Palm Place listings are relevant this fall. The property's directory lists Fletchers Boca at 133 SE Mizner Blvd as "coming this Fall 2026." That is an announced timeframe, not a confirmed opening. The same directory lists Greens and Grains at 179 SE Mizner Blvd, with no opening date given.
Once the work is finished, the southern segment will offer something it lacks today: a separated bike lane and an 11-foot sidewalk running the full distance from Camino Real to SE 5th Street. For anyone in south Boca who has thought about biking to the Hot Works show or the amphitheater, this is the part of the project with lasting effect. The lane comes out once and the bike lane stays.
The June 2025 public meeting at the Downtown Library drew a handful of attendees, and most of them were there to support the bike lanes, the buffers and safer street crossings. According to the Tribune, no one objected to the plans. Deputy Mayor Fran Nachlas, the only elected official there, called the bike lanes and buffers a "monumental" improvement. Questions about shade trees came up, and FDOT's project manager said landscaping "would be a separate effort." The tree canopy along the finished corridor is therefore not part of this contract.
When the cones come down
The finish date depends on the source. FDOT's project page lists completion as "Summer 2027." Boca Daily News reported in August 2026 that construction was expected to wrap up in late 2027. The 2025 Tribune report gave fall 2027. The budget moved too. The 2025 presentation described a $5.5 million project, and the contract as awarded is $6.3 million.
Whichever date holds, the work spans the full 2026–27 downtown season. Questions about specific closures go to FDOT's listed contacts: project manager Ricky Estripeaut, P.E., at (561) 370-1132, and community outreach specialist Kevin Wells.
If you're in Palm Beach Farms and wondering how the finished Camino Real corridor will affect daily life on your side of Federal Highway, Jared Niles follows these south Boca projects closely and is glad to talk through what is changing on your street. Let's Connect.
