What are the busiest roads in Brevard County? Here are the corridors to avoid
Brevard County's traffic congestion isn't at the level you'd find in a big city like New York or Los Angeles, or even a medium-sized city like Orlando.
But there are places and times when traffic tie-ups can be frustrating along the Space Coast. With Brevard County's population rising by 7.5% from 2018 to 2022, plus a growing number of tourists visiting the Space Coast, that means more vehicles on the road and more congestion.
Overall traffic volume rose 3.4% from 2021 to 2022, according to data compiled by the Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization.
The SCTPO tracks a host of data about Brevard County's road network. Here is a sampling:
Congested corridors: What are the busiest roads in Brevard?
This ranking, which uses 2022 data, which is the most recent available, shows the five most congested stretches of road. The ranking is based on a ratio comparing traffic volume on that road to the designated capacity of the road. A 1.05 ratio, for example, means that there is 5% more traffic on the road than the road is designed to handle.
The SCTPO considers a corridor to be congested if the ratio reaches 0.85 or greater. A ratio of more than 1.0 indicates that the corridor is over capacity.
Ellis Road from Interstate 95 Interchange to Wickham Road: 1.05 (ranking up from No. 4 in 2021)
Malabar Road from San Filippo Drive to Interstate 95: 1.05 (ranking up from No. 3 in 2021)
Minton Road from Jupiter Boulevard to Malabar Road: 1.02 (ranking down from No. 1 in 2021)
State Road 520 westbound from Causeway to U.S. 1: 0.99 (ranking down from No. 2 in 2021)
S.R. 520 eastbound from U.S. 1 to Riveredge Boulevard: 0.95 (ranking unchanged from 2021)
'Unreliable' stretches of road
One of the metrics the SCTPO looks at is what's known as "level of travel time reliability." That metric uses a formula to determine if there is an extensive amount of time when traffic delays are prevalent. It uses a ratio that compares the worst travel times on roads against the travel time that is typically experienced.
The latest report found these stretches of road to be unreliable in multiple time periods:
Along Garden Street (S.R. 406) in downtown Titusville.
Along Columbia Boulevard/South Street (S.R. 405) and S.R. 50 in Titusville.
Along S.R. 524, Clearlake Road (S.R. 501) and Industry Road in Cocoa.
Along NASA Boulevard (S.R. 508), Babcock Street and U.S. 192 near Melbourne OrlandoInternational Airport.
Along Wickham Road/Minton Road and U.S. 192 in West Melbourne.
Along Palm Bay Road between Minton Road and Interstate 95.
Busiest intersections in Brevard County
The report also ranked the busiest intersections in the county, based on number of vehicles entering the intersection. SCTPO officials emphasize that the busiest intersections section is about the intersections with the most volume, not which ones have the worst operational performance.
Here is the 2022 ranking:
Babcock Street (S.R. 507) at Palm Bay Road: 67,453 vehicles (total of 10 lanes entering the intersection from various directions), was No. 1 in 2021
Palm Bay Road at Hollywood Boulevard: 60,721 vehicles (8 lanes); was No. 2 in 2021
U.S. 192 at Wickham Road: 60,377 vehicles (8 lanes); was No. 5 in 2021
U.S. 1 at Eau Gallie Blvd. (S.R. 518 eastbound only): 60,065 vehicles (9 lanes); was No. 3 in 2021
Malabar Road (S.R. 514) at Babcock Street (S.R. 507): 58,282 vehicles (7 lanes); was No. 4 in 2021
Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at dberman@floridatoday.com, on X at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Heaviest traffic in Brevard, Florida on Ellis, Malabar, Minton roads
