Port Canaveral leaders look to upgrade Beach Line as cruise industry rebounds

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. — The cruise industry is rebounding in a big way at Port Canaveral and the port authority is working to bring bigger and bigger ships.

But the port believes the stretch of the 528 and bridges leading up to the port need major upgrades.

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From rocket launches to the return of cruising, big things are happening on the Space Coast and Port Canaveral is only expecting that to grow.

“As we evolve into next year, you’re going to hear a lot of other exciting news on a cruise front,” said Canaveral Port Authority CEO John Murray.

Murray said more ships and bigger ships are a big part of the success on the cruise side, and cargo is expanding too.

But he believes the main route to drive in and out of the port is increasingly becoming a problem.

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The Beach Line expressway is four lanes, two in each direction.

Drivers on port’s roadway have probably seen people pulling off and hanging out on the side of the road.

“It’s a safety issue right now you can pull off on the side of the road. And you know, you’ve got a large tanker vessel or load of slag material or something coming down the road,” Murray said. “It’s just not safe the way it’s designed today.”

But plans are in the works to make a change. In fact, these plans have been discussed for quite some time.

Renderings from the Florida Department of Transportation show what it could look like with extra raised express lanes in the center to add capacity.

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A safety wall could also separate drivers from people walking on a lower path near the water.

The work would be done in three projects: the first from just east of Industry Road to near State Road 3, then from there to the Port Canaveral interchange.

As part of the work, FDOT said it would replace the existing bridges over the Banana River with a wider bridge of the same length and still maintain the existing causeway.

The third part would be the 401 bridge you might cross to get to the Disney cruise terminal.

They are working on an alternative to having fewer bridge openings to better accommodate river traffic and have fewer traffic backups for drivers who use the port.

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