Melbourne and Brevard County Tansportation

Melbourne is located about midway on the eastern coastline. Its location makes it easy to get anywhere in the State. Miami is just three hours away. 

AUTOMOBILE
These major north/south routes are important arteries that connect a number of communities: Titusville in the north; Cocoa , Cocoa Beach and Rockledge in central Brevard; and Melbourne, Melbourne Beach and Palm Bay in the south
Interstate 95 skirts Brevard County on its north/south trip from Maine to Miami. Interstates & Highways

• Running from Maine to Miami, I-95 is the most heavily traveled north-south interstate on the East Coast, and for the convenience of businesses and residents alike, it runs directly through Brevard County.
• State Road A1A along the coastline.
• US1 In the barrier islands (Melbourne Beach to Port Canaveral.

East West routes
State Road 405 to the north, which traverses the NASA Causeway to the space center

• S.R. 528 (the Beeline Expressway) in the center of the county. For goods and persons traveling to Orlando, Tampa and all points west, SR- 528 directly links to other major Florida highways like I-4 and the Florida Turnpike.
• S.R. 524 (the Bennett Causeway), merges with the Beeline, crosses the Indian River to Merritt Island and then the Banana River to the town of Cape Canaveral and Port Canaveral.
• State Roads 502 (Barnes Boulevard) and 509 (Wickham Road) serve Vierra and Melbourne.
• S.R. 518, connects Melbourne with the beach communities of Indian Harbour, Canova, Indialantic and Melbourne Beach.
• S.R. 509 travels north/south through the county’s southern section and connects with Eau Gallie Boulevard.

Airlines

• At least five airlines serve passengers at Melbourne International Airport. Melbourne’s main carrier is Delta with service to Atlanta, Wash DC and New York/
• Orlando International, is just 50 miles and about 45 minutes away via the Beeline Expressway (S.R. 528). From either place you can fly almost anywhere.
• Smaller executive airports are scattered around the region, including the Space Center Executive Airport.

Cruise ships

The state’s third-largest cruise-passenger port, Port Canaveral, also handles lots of space-related and commercial cargo at its deep-water facility. The East Coast Railroad carries freight by rail. Greyhound buses also provide transportation in the county.

Rail Service

• Running directly through Brevard County, Florida’s East Coast Railway connects with Norfolk Southern and CSX and provides another ground-based transportation option for business.
• There are Amtrak stations located in Delray beach, Tampa and Jacksonville.
• There is also a unique car Auto Train (Amtrak) located in Sanford Florida.
• The Auto Train offers rail transportation for passengers and their personal vehicles between Lorton, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.) and Sanford, Florida, near Orlando.
• Passengers are allowed to take their automobile, small van, light duty truck, or motorcycle when they travel north or south.
• Wide coach seats or private first-class sleeping compartments and dining cars and meals are offered.
• Reservations required. See your travel agent, call 1-800-USA-RAIL, 1-877-SKIP-I-95, or visit tickets.amtrak.com for reservations and fare information.

In conclusion, whatever mode of transportation you need, be it for personal or for business, Melbourne is in a great location and has the transportation options.

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Melbourne and Brevard County Recreation and Outdoors
To say that Florida is about being outdoors is an understatement.  Some parts of the SunBelt seem to be mostly about air conditioning and a quick dash outdoors to go to the supermarket.  Central Coastal Florida isn’t like that; sure it’s hot in the Summertime, but that doesn’t get in the way of things, like it does in, say, Texas or Arizona or Nevada.
And this greater Melbourne area, in particular, is phenomenal.  Consider, for a moment, its sheer number and variety of recreational opportunities:

• 200 Parks, 21 Nature Trails
• 28 Golf Courses, 23 Tennis Courts
• 37 Boat Ramps
• 72 miles of beaches
• 13 Ocean beach parks
• 3 Full service campgrounds
• 11 Ocean Surf fishing park areas

To see a complete list fo to the site below
http://www.brevardparks.com/parks/index.htm

If you think about this for a moment, it resolves into a pretty interesting list of things to do outdoors in Melbourne and  Brevard County:
Beaching, in all its variety

• Fishing-saltwater and freshwater
• Boating-Ocean or River Florida Fishing Guides by Lagooner
• Diving-Ocean wrecks
• Surfing-We have some of the best surfing in the state.
• Hiking
• Bike riding – most residential areas are enforced 25 mph speed limits
• Birding-world class, lots of stops on the migration flyway too
• Photography
• Windsurfing
• Kayaking—there are good rental locations and lots of places to launch.
  And besides the Beaches, which I’ve mentioned already, there are myriad and wonderful other places to visit.  Among these are:

• Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
• Turkey Creek sanctuary

Another place you’ll want to visit is the citizen-built Brevard Zoo. This is a very well run, clean facility with both local and African wildlife.

And for environmentally based outings consider the dolphin-watch cruises on the Indian River Lagoon.

Other outdoor wonderlands–in addition to the miles and miles of beaches (especially the pristine sands owned and monitored by the federal government)–include the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, the Canaveral National Seashore, Erna Nixon Park, the Turkey Creek Sanctuary, the Ulamay Wildlife Sanctuary, the Enchanted Forest and the Sebastian Inlet State Recreation Area. Coon’s Run Wildlife Sanctuary in Rockledge offers rehabilitation for injured and orphaned wildlife at its privately operated, non-profit center.

The area on the barrier island along the Atlantic Ocean from Holland Spessard Park south of Melbourne Beach to Sebastian Inlet, at the county’s southern border, is the largest sea turtle nesting area in the United States. Between May and August, Loggerheads, Greens and Leatherbacks come ashore to lay their eggs. You can walk the beach in the morning and see as many as 20 new turtle crawls from the night before, or you can sign up for one of the frequent nighttime turtle conservation tours and watch the egg-laying yourself.  Hatchlings that survive–and few do in spite of serious efforts to protect them–struggle back to the sea during September and October.

Good Sports

Surfing is big here. Several tournaments occur annually in Cocoa Beach. Sebastian Inlet’s Monster Hole and Spanish House challenge even experienced surfers. One “don’t miss” spot on the surf circuit is Ron Jon’s Surf Shop, a Cocoa Beach institution. Originally a small surf shop with several boards and a few T-shirts for sale, it’s now a 24-hours-a-day merchandising palace complete with amenities like a fountain and a glass-encased elevator in addition to every conceivable retail item that can carry a Ron Jon logo, including thousands and thousands of T-shirts.

Fishing–especially the saltwater variety–is popular with locals and vacationers. Sport fishermen catch mackerel, sailfish, marlin, wahoo and tuna from Brevard County waters. Marinas, boats, airboats, charter fishing boats, commercial fishing boats and pleasure craft–ranging from one-man skulls and canoes to cabin cruisers and yachts–abound. The Cocoa Beach Pier, which stretches out 840 feet above the ocean, is a good place to cast your line if you don’t have a boat–or even if you do.   And then there’s that 40 mile beach-anybody can be a surfcaster, and it doesn’t require a lot of fancy equipment.

Other active sports fans enjoy Brevard’s facilities, too. Hiking and biking entertain some. Public tennis courses exist in at least 11 parks. The 16 public and seven private golf courses located within county borders keep most golfers content. And, of course, wind surfing, surfing, swimming, diving and boating along the Intracoastal Waterway and Atlantic Ocean beaches keep water-friendly folks in a state of barely controlled bliss.

Baseball is big in the late winter and early spring when Big League ball players train and compete here on the Grapefruit Circuit. The Florida Marlins (from the Miami area) train right here in Brevard County; the Los Angeles Dodgers do their spring stint in Vero Beach (in Indian River County just south of Brevard County). For professional football, residents can travel up the coast to see the Jacksonville Jaguars play; for pro basketball, their best bet is the Orlando Magic, who play less than an hour’s drive from home.

Hot Times in the City
You’ll be busy for weeks visiting Brevard County’s many places of interest. In the Titusville area (north), try Astronaut Hall of Fame, the Valiant Air Command Museum and especially the very reasonable and exciting NASA Kennedy Space Center, where the Astronauts Memorial is also worth a look. Don’t neglect downtown Titusville’s historic district and the North Brevard Historical Museum.

In the Cocoa Beach (north central) area, check out the pier and Port Canaveral–its commerce, foreign trade zone and Jetty Park. Also mid-county, don’t miss Cocoa Village, especially the Village Playhouse and the Porcher House. On A1A in Cocoa Beach, you’ll find the famous Ron Jon Surf Shop. On the mainland in Cocoa, visit the Brevard Museum of History and Natural Science and the Astronaut Memorial Hall and Planetarium at the Cocoa campus of Brevard Community College (BCC).

In conclusion, what choices! Glad I’m not in Michigan this winter.  Ha!

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Historically, the place that gives this entire area its “name” is Melbourne, the oldest and best-known community on what Floridians call the “Space Coast”. Melbourne is right in the center of a long north-south corridor – coastal Brevard County – that is sandwiched between the St. Johns River Basin to the West and the Atlantic Ocean.

It stretches from Palm Bay and other smaller communities in the south through Melbourne, West Melbourne, and Melbourne Village in central Brevard to Viera, Cocoa and Titusville in the north. And it includes a half dozen beach communities on one long, fabulous barrier island stretching from Sebastian Inlet to Cape Canaveral.

This “greater Melbourne” is one of the most rapidly growing residential areas in Florida, and it currently boasts the fifth most rapidly appreciating home property values in the entire United States [USA Today, Sept 2, 2005]!

Yet Melbourne itself is reminiscent of an older not so built up Florida.
The main streets are wide and the city is well maintained. It has Arts, Fine Dining Health and Educational facilities that compare with the best Florida’s larger cities offer. It’s just an hour from Orlando and three hours from Miami. The location makes anywhere in the state very accessible. Even remote Key West is just a 5 or 6 hour drive. As to Outdoor and recreational opportunities, in my opinion it’s one of the best places in Florida. The beaches are not jammed, there is plenty of access and it’s not wall to wall development.

When you approach the Ocean over the high bridge across the Indian River (the Intra-Coastal Waterway or ICW), your view is sweeping. It is not blocked by condos and hotels, thanks to strict zoning laws enacted well before the current rapid growth and development. For one thing, there are 3- and 4-story height limits, unlike what you find throughout much of South Florida. For another, there is lots of easy to find, easy to use “forever” beach access. Before development there was conservation, and Melbourne and its beachside communities have some of the nicest public beaches in all of Florida

Melbourne also has a great Old-Town, downtown area with specialty shops, antique stores, theaters, restaurants and more. There are dining places overlooking both the Indian River Lagoon (the IntraCoastal) and the Ocean. Another Old Town section, Eau Gallie, features art galleries and the county art museum.
In a recent study, with a major space employer in Melbourne, the employees had this to say.

Melbourne is a safe place to live
It has great weather and lots of sun
It’s easy to travel and get to work and there are good job opportunities..
There is a wide variety of recreational facilities.
It’s easy to get involved in the community.
It’s a great place for creative people.
Three out of four would recommend a friend or family member to relocate to Melbourne.
Melbourne has the amenities that a larger town would have yet it has a small town atmosphere.
I call it user friendly.
All that and the Real Estate is a good deal. As of this writing (summer 2005) single-family homes, minutes from the beaches can be had from 200,000 up.

Melbourne, and its landside communities of West Melbourne and Melbourne Village, plus its beachside communities of Indialantic, Melbourne Beach, and Floridana (going south), or Indian Harbor Beach and Satellite Beach (going north) is simply a great place to live. Ditto for the greater Melbourne area from Sebastian Inlet to Cape Canaveral. What a great place to relocate or retire to.

Check out the dropdown menus to the left for more information. Better yet, come down and take a look for yourself! See the google map to the upper right.

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