Business leaders to FDOT: Widen Ellis Road to four lanes ASAP - don't wait until 2028
Stopped traffic stacks up during morning and afternoon rush hours near the Interstate 95 Ellis Road interchange, where eastbound drivers are forced to squeeze onto two-lane Ellis Road to reach Melbourne's major employers.
Transportation officials have long planned to widen Ellis Road from two to four lanes along the industrial 1.7-mile stretch between John Rodes Boulevard and Wickham Road.
But barring further delays, the Florida Department of Transportation does not expect construction to start until 2025 — and work would not wrap up until mid-2028.
That time frame is too long for a growing list of some of Brevard County's higher-profile companies.
Plane crash near Ellis Road: 'Truly heroic' bystanders praised for pulling pilot from crashed plane in West Melbourne
Traffic tie-ups: Minton Road rush-hour traffic congestion under study in West Melbourne, Palm Bay
Last week, Melbourne Regional Chamber President and CEO Michael Ayers sent a letter to FDOT Secretary Jared Perdue. Ayers asked to schedule a meeting to highlight how “this artery is a critical component for the continued growth and economic expansion of our community.”
“The Ellis Road interchange is an important gateway for the 20,000 employees who work on the Melbourne Orlando International Airport property and surrounding vicinity," Ayers' letter said.
"Beyond the employees and residents that will benefit from this expansion, over 500,000 travelers will arrive into MLB in the next year, thanks to the arrival of TUI and other air service providers,” the letter said.
Ayers said he was in touch with FDOT on Friday, and an Ellis Road meeting includlocal officials will likely occur on June 22.
Widening Ellis Road has ranked in recent years as the Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization's No. 1 strategic priority.
The Space Coast TPO will discuss the project Tuesday during a "Planning a Connected Transportation System for the Space Coast" open house. The event takes place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Space Coast Association of Realtors headquarters in Palm Shores.
Space Coast TPO Executive Director Georganna Gillette said the majority of Ellis Road right-of-way acquisition for the widening project should occur within the next three fiscal years.
FDOT will administer right-of-way acquisition on behalf of Brevard County, which Gillette called “a critical step” in the undertaking. The West Melbourne and Melbourne city councils also have approved this step.
“There are over 80 parcels that are needed for the project — 80. Some of those are full takes. Some are partial takes,” Gillette said.
Eau Gallie: Miami developer wants to build 7-story mixed-use apartment complex in downtown Eau Gallie
TUI arrives: TUI, Melbourne's first-ever European airline, lands inaugural flight from United Kingdom
In a separate funding category, Gillette said FDOT has programmed $19.4 million for construction costs in 2025-26. But the project’s latest total construction estimate exceeds $40 million.
The $39 million I-95 interchange at Ellis Road opened in June 2020 in West Melbourne. In tandem, a new $11 million, four-lane northern segment of the St. Johns Heritage Parkway opened at the same time, extending 2.2 miles from the interchange southward to U.S. 192.
Ayers said the chamber had garnered 17 letters of support as of Thursday afternoon, including messages from Collins Aerospace, Health First, Melbourne Regional Medical Center and Kindred Hospital.
William Guyan is a Leonardo DRS senior vice president and general manager of land electronics. In a letter to Perdue, he said widening Ellis Road would positively impact the company's Melbourne engineering-manufacturing facility of more than 1,000 workers.
Guyan wrote that Leonardo DRS has to attract and retain talent as a top priority, citing reshoring of manufacturing jobs, retirements in a legacy workforce and disruptive technologies.
"Our community is in dire need of this important expansion now, not five years down the road. We respectfully request you immediately begin the right-of-way acquisition process and expedite it to the fullest extent possible," Guyan said in the letter.
In early March, TUI official Tammy McKenzie called the I-95 Ellis Road interchange "fantastic" during a speech to a Melbourne Regional Chamber audience at the Brevard Zoo in Viera.
McKenzie encouraged Space Coast officials to support the Ellis Road widening project. She said TUI's United Kingdom tourists will typically land in Melbourne during late afternoon or early evening.
"It's kind of going to hit your rush hour, potentially. So the last thing that we would want is (to delay) the coaches leaving the airport, cars leaving the airport as well. Those customers are going to be heading up to International Drive," McKenzie told the crowd.
"They want to get on the road. They want to get out. And they want to get up there pretty quickly," she said.
Melbourne Orlando International Airport Executive Director Greg Donovan wrote a letter to Perdue supporting the widening of Ellis Road. He said, "timely capital investment is sorely needed as the existing road is heavily congested and poses unnecessary safety risks."
Donovan also cited the potential recruitment of several new aerospace companies that would create thousands of new jobs at MLB in the near future.
"Ellis Road is utilized daily by our domestic and international passengers, and serves as a first impression for many that are traveling to Florida for the first time," Donovan said in the letter.
"With (the) addition of our latest international carrier, TUI, we are anticipating more than 150,000 new visitors from the U.K. this year alone. This number is forecasted to nearly double in the next four years," he said.
Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1
Support local journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Melbourne chamber wants FDOT to widen Ellis Road four lanes ASAP
