Funding shortfall to widen Ellis Road tops $50M, leaving construction start date in limbo

Projected costs to widen Ellis Road from two to four lanes have skyrocketed past $81.1 million, forcing local officials to hope a federal grant can cover a $50.8 million funding shortfall plaguing the Space Coast's top-ranked transportation project.

Planners want to widen the chronically congested, 1.7-mile skinny stretch of Ellis Road between John Rodes Boulevard and Wickham Road. Ellis becomes four-lane NASA Boulevard east of Wickham Road, leading to the Melbourne Orlando International Airport passenger terminal and a host of major employers.

But widening Ellis Road is a complicated endeavor that would require significant stormwater drainage infrastructure.

“Right now, the project is at $81.1 million. And just a year ago, we were looking at somewhere in the mid-50s," Brevard County Public Works Director Marc Bernath said.

"And you only have to look so far at your local grocery store or lumberyard to see why these costs have gone up," he said.

Bernath provided updates to an Ellis Road task force during a Monday meeting in the Melbourne Airport Authority board room. The ambitious widening project involves the Florida Department of Transportation, Brevard County government, the cities of Melbourne and West Melbourne, Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization and the airport.

Widening Ellis Road ranks as the No. 1 priority project of the Space Coast TPO and Central Florida MPO Alliance.

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Officials hope construction starts during the 2025-26 fiscal year — but only $30.3 million of the $81.1 million cost has been funded, Bernath said. Brevard County will soon apply for a U.S. Department of Transportation INFRA (Infrastructure for Rebuilding America) grant, which could cover all but roughly $3 million of that $50.8 million shortfall.

"Without it, we would otherwise not be able to afford the project," Bernath said.

These federal transportation grants are highly competitive, Space Coast TPO Executive Director Georganna Gillette cautioned.

"The meter's running, with inflation and costs rising every day. Even if we're successful today — and they granted it right now today — by the time we actually start and it's done, we're going to be short again," said West Melbourne City Council Member Andrea Young, who chairs the TPO board.

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Construction may take 30 months to 36 months if utilities are not relocated ahead of time, said John Hatfield, FDOT district construction engineer.

If utilities are moved, Hatfield said that schedule may compress by six months or more. Officials may pursue a land-clearing and grubbing contract that could help move utilities before the full widening project begins.

Thus far, FDOT has acquired 14 of 80 parcels needed for right-of-way along Ellis Road, said Joe Bracken, FDOT district right-of-way manager. He hopes the process wraps up by November 2024, including all demolition and land-clearing work.

There are only five signalized intersections between the airport and I-95 along the east-west Ellis-NASA route, said Cliff Graham, airport director of operations and maintenance. By comparison, motorists encounter 27 traffic lights taking U.S. 192 and 19 lights taking Eau Gallie Boulevard between the airport and the interstate.

Regardless, Graham said TUI Airways' buses transporting United Kingdom holiday travelers from the airport to Orlando and Port Canaveral avoid overcrowded, two-lane Ellis Road.

“What's happening right now is, there's so much congestion on Ellis Road in the afternoons that those buses bypass Ellis Road. They will not take Ellis Road. They'll actually go five miles out of their way — and go through many more signalized intersections — to get to I-95," he said.

The $39 million Ellis Road I-95 interchange opened in June 2020 in tandem with an $11 million northern segment of the St. Johns Heritage Parkway, extending for 2.2 miles between the interchange and U.S. 192.

Wednesday, the West Melbourne Planning and Zoning Board will discuss rezoning 3.9 acres at the southeast corner of John Rodes Boulevard and Ellis Road for a future RaceTrac gas station.

The project would incorporate 1.7 acres of adjacent land in neighboring Melbourne, increasing the total project area to 5.6 acres. RaceTrac would have 16 gasoline pumps, four diesel pumps and a 6,008-square-foot convenience store, an engineering memo shows.

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

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Ellis Road widening project falls $50 million short amid inflation