State Road A1A (SR A1A) is a major north–south

Florida State Road The State Highway System of the U.S. state of Florida comprises the roads maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) or a toll authority. The components are referred to officially as state roads, abbreviated as SR. Hist ...

that runs along the Atlantic Ocean, from

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

at the southern tip of Florida, to Fernandina Beach, just south of Georgia on Amelia Island. It is the main road through most oceanfront towns. Part of SR A1A is designated the A1A Scenic and Historic Coastal Byway, a

National Scenic Byway A National Scenic Byway is a road recognized by the United States Department of Transportation for one or more of six "intrinsic qualities": archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and scenic. The program was established by Co ...

. A portion of SR A1A that passes through Volusia County is designated the Ormond Scenic Loop and Trail, a

Florida Scenic Highway Florida Scenic Highways are a collection of scenic highways in Florida organized and managed by the Florida Department of Transportation, through thFlorida Scenic Highways Program Each highway passes through or connects sites that the state of ...

. It is also called the Indian River Lagoon Scenic Highway from State Road 510 at

Wabasso Beach Wabasso Beach is a census-designated place (CDP) in Indian River County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,853 at the 2010 census, an increase of 72.4% since 2000. It is part of the Sebastian– Vero Beach Metropolitan Statistic ...

to U.S. Route 1 in

Cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

. SR A1A is famous worldwide as a center of beach culture in the United States, a scenic coastal route through most Atlantic coastal cities and beach towns, including the unique tropical coral islands of the Florida Keys. SR A1A also serves as a major thoroughfare through

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...

and other south Florida coastal cities. Other than SR A1A Alternate (now SR 811, CR 707, SR 732, and an extension of SR 842), only two other Florida state roads have begun with a letter: SR A19A (now a loop of SR 693– SR 699– SR 682 near St. Petersburg), and SR G1A (now SR 300). The road was designated as State Road 1 in the

1945 renumbering On June 11, 1945, Florida's state roads were renumbered. The old system numbered routes in the order they were legislated, while the new system used a grid. Notes See also *Florida State Roads The State Highway System of the U.S. sta ...

, mostly replacing the former State Road 140 designation. The number reflected its location in the new grid as the easternmost major north–south road. About a year and a half later, in November 1946, the State Road Board resolved to renumber the route due to confusion with the parallel U.S. Highway 1. The new designation, A1A, was chosen to keep the number 1 in its place in the grid. The East Coast Greenway, a system of trails that connects Maine to Florida, travels along sections of SR A1A.

Route description

A1AnRoadEnd-US1nsUS23nsUS301ns-CallahanFL (32302420820)

SR A1A is heavily associated with Florida beach culture and is known for its lush tropical and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

scenery and ocean vistas. In many places, the highway runs directly along the waterfront of the Atlantic Ocean, but in other places, it runs one to five blocks inland from the beachfront. For most of its length, SR A1A runs along Florida's East Coast Barrier Islands, separated from the mainland of the state by the Intracoastal Waterway. Because of the proximity of the highway to the ocean and its susceptibility to

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the n ...

s, sections of SR A1A are often closed or damaged by hurricanes and tropical storms. SR A1A also has been a backbone of Florida's Spring Break serving as "the strip" in both Fort Lauderdale – a popular spring break destination during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s – and

Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County near the Atlantic coastline, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. Daytona Beach is approximately nort ...

, which became a popular destination for college spring breaks during the 1970s. Today, SR A1A serves as more a main coastal highway that connects beach towns for more than 375 miles along Florida's East Coast. The southern terminus of SR A1A is at the southern end of Bertha Street, where SR A1A begins as a two-lane, then a four-lane highway along the Straits of Florida in

, known locally as South Roosevelt Boulevard. The road heads east past East Martello Tower and Key West International Airport, before curving north with an intersection with CR 5A (Flagler Avenue), followed by the northern terminus of the Key West section of SR A1A, U.S. Route 1 and State Road 5 (the Overseas Highway). Running along the south shore of Key West, SR A1A is the southmost numbered highway in the lower 48 states. SR A1A reappears at Interstate 395 and US 1 in Miami, beginning at MacArthur Causeway before becoming

Collins Avenue Collins Avenue, partly co-signed State Road A1A, is a major thoroughfare in South Florida, United States. The road runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean in Miami Beach, Florida, one block west. It also runs through the cities of Surfside and S ...

at Fifth Street in

(or, in small segments, Harding Avenue, Abbott Avenue, or Indian Creek Drive), serving as one of Miami Beach's main north — south thoroughfares. Just north in the town of Surfside, the northbound is Collins Avenue, and the southbound is Harding Avenue. In Bal Harbour it is called Bal Harbour Boulevard. In Golden Beach it is called Ocean Boulevard. It serves

Hallandale Beach Hallandale Beach (formerly known simply as Hallandale) is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States. The city is named after Luther Halland, the son of a Swedish worker for Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railroad. As of the 20 ...

, Hollywood Beach, and

Dania Beach Dania Beach (Dania until 1998) is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 31,723. It is part of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010 census ...

. It joins with US 1 for 3.4 miles, and passes the Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport. It then divides and serves Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, and continuing north. It serves as the main road throughout much of the exclusive Palm Beach, further to the north. In the area of Vero Beach, SR A1A is called the Robert C. Spillman Memorial Highway, and it spans Sebastian Inlet at the Sebastian Inlet Bridge. SR A1A next passes just to the west of

Cape Canaveral , image = cape canaveral.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991 , map = Florida#USA , map_width = 300 , type =Cape , map_caption = Location in Florida , location ...

and the John F. Kennedy Space Center. Two miles of SR A1A were used as part of the well-known

Daytona Beach Road Course The Daytona Beach and Road Course was a race track that was instrumental in the formation of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. It originally became famous as the location where 15 world land speed records were set. Beach and ro ...

. SR A1A also passes through

St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afri ...

, the oldest continuously-inhabited city on the mainland of the United States. SR A1A is called 3rd Street in Jacksonville Beach and

Neptune Beach Neptune Beach is a beachfront city east of Jacksonville in Duval County, Florida, United States. When the majority of Duval County communities consolidated with Jacksonville in 1968, Neptune Beach, along with Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beac ...

. Just south of

Atlantic Beach Atlantic Beach is the name of some places in the United States: *Atlantic Beach, Florida, a city *Atlantic Beach, New York, a village *Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, a town *Atlantic Beach, South Carolina Atlantic Beach is a town in Horry County, ...

, SR A1A turns inland for several blocks, following Atlantic Boulevard, before resuming a northward course along Mayport Road that ends at the St. Johns River. A ferry takes traffic to the northern section of SR A1A that continues along the coast to just south of

Fort Clinch State Park The Fort Clinch State Park is a Florida State Park, located on a peninsula near the northernmost point of Amelia Island, along the Amelia River. Its include the 19th-century Fort Clinch, sand dunes, plains, maritime hammock and estuarine tidal m ...

on the estuary of the Saint Mary's River. At that point SR A1A hooks back south to Fernandina Beach and then turns west, going inland 20 miles through Yulee and crossing I-95 and

U.S. Highway 17 U.S. Route 17 or U.S. Highway 17 (US 17), also known as the Coastal Highway, is a north–south United States Highway that spans in the southeastern United States. It runs close to the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Co ...

. It ends at U.S. Highway 1,

U.S. Highway 23 } U.S. Route 23 or U.S. Highway 23 (US 23) is a major north–south U.S. Highway between Jacksonville, Florida, and Mackinaw City, Michigan. It is an original 1926 route which originally reached only as far south as Portsmouth, Ohio, and has since ...

, and U.S. Highway 301 in

Callahan Callahan may refer to: *Callahan (surname) Fictional characters *Father Callahan, in Stephen King novels *Harry Callahan (character), in ''Dirty Harry'' movies * Jack Callahan (''Neighbours''), from the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'' *Mik ...

. This section west of Fernandina Beach, is also marked as SR 200, but SR A1A signs are displayed at every cluster of signs, though a designated direction is only above the SR 200 signs.

History

Pre-1945 alignment

Prior to the

, the route that became SR 1 had the following numbers:

Initial alignment

SR 1 was defined in the

as:

Alignment modifications

Since then, the following changes have been made:

Jungle Trail

The Jungle Trail (pre-1945 State Road 252) was part of A1A in northeastern Indian River County, Florida. The narrow, road is located between Old Winter Beach Road and the current A1A, along the western side of Orchid Island, and is unpaved. It is part of the Indian River Lagoon Scenic Highway system, and the southernmost road in the highway system. Part of the trail goes through the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge. The road started as a means to quickly transport citrus to packinghouses on the mainland, then in the 1930s and 1940s became more used by tourists.Indian River County listings
a
Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
/ref> On August 1, 2003, it was added to the United States National Register of Historic Places.

Major intersections

County Road A1A

County Road A1A is a county road in four counties in the U.S. state of Florida. The route is discontinuous and functions as a spur of State Road A1A.

Palm Beach County

CR A1A in Palm Beach County is a former routing of SR A1A through

Juno Beach Juno or Juno Beach was one of five beaches of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944 during the Second World War. The beach spanned from Courseulles, a village just east of the British beach Gold ...

and Jupiter. It serves as a paralleling alternate route to Federal Highway ( US 1), and is often erroneously signed as SR A1A despite its official county designation and maintenance.

Martin County

The longest of the four county spurs, County Road A1A is that runs along the Florida East Coast Railroad main line from Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound to

Stuart Stuart may refer to: Names * Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) Automobile *Stuart (automobile) Places Australia Generally *Stuart Highway, connecting South Australia and the Northern Territory Northe ...

, where it suddenly changes course and runs east along the south coast of the St. Lucie River. After the terminus of SR 714, it approaches the

Evans Crary Bridge Evans may refer to: People *Evans (surname) *List of people with surname Evans Places United States *Evans Island, an island of Alaska *Evans, Colorado *Evans, Georgia *Evans County, Georgia *Evans, New York *Evans Mills, New York *Evans City, ...

separating Stuart and

Sewall's Point Sewall's Point is a town located on the peninsula of the same name in Martin County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,991 at the 2020 census. Both the town and the peninsula are named for Capt. Henry Edwin Sewall (August 22, 1848 & ...

and becomes SR A1A.

Volusia County

County Road A1A is a

spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A bypass or beltway should not be considered a true spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the s ...

of State Road A1A in

Volusia County, Florida Volusia County (, ) is located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida, stretching between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2020 census, the county was home to 553,543 people, an increase of 11.9% from the 20 ...

, United States. The route begins at U.S. Route 1 and State Road A1A in Downtown New Smyrna Beach as Lytel Avenue. Next, the route crosses the Intracoastal Waterway and Callalisa Creek before heading southbound. After the 2 bridges, the road becomes 3rd Avenue, the northern terminus of Saxon Drive as the first right after Callalisa Creek. East of Indian River Village Shopping Center, the road turns southward and becomes Atlantic Avenue. At the intersection of 27th Avenue, the road becomes 2 lanes wide. Less than a mile south of New Smyrna Beach, Saxon Drive ends. At Bethune Beach, the road slightly turns away from the Atlantic Ocean. The road becomes Turtle Mound Road at that point. After Bethune Beach, the road is midway between the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. At this point, a gate brings access to Canaveral National Seashore. It passes through the ghost town of Eldora. The road ends as a dead end at a beach.

St. Johns County

County Road A1A is a spur route of SR A1A in

St. Augustine Beach St. Augustine Beach is a city in St. Johns County, Florida, United States. The population was 6,176 at the 2010 census. As of 2018, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau was 7,026. Geography St. Augustine Beach is located at (29. ...

that runs closer to the Atlantic Ocean than SR A1A. It runs northeast from SR A1A, but begins to straighten out between John Drive and a private driveway south of F Street. The closest thing resembling a major intersection is 16th Street. After passing by the St Johns County Ocean Pier, the road intersects Pope Road and leaves the city limits, where it enters Anastasia State Park, and makes a sharp curve to the west. Once the road leaves the park, it features an exceptionally long west-to-north turning ramp towards SR A1A, but ends at the intersection of SRs A1A and

312 __NOTOC__ Year 312 ( CCCXII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinianus (or, less frequently, ...

References in popular culture

*A1A is mentioned in the 1990 Vanilla Ice song '' Ice Ice Baby'' with the lyrics "A1A (Beachfront Avenue)"; in Miami's

South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south of Dade Boulevard. This area was the fi ...

, A1A is named Collins Avenue, but "Beachfront Avenue" is a common nickname. *A1A, called Ocean Boulevard in the town of Golden Beach, was referred to in the title of Eric Clapton's 1974 album ''

461 Ocean Boulevard ''461 Ocean Boulevard'' is the second studio album by English musician Eric Clapton. The album was released in late July 1974 for RSO Records, shortly after the record company released the hit single "I Shot the Sheriff" in early July the same y ...

''. *''

A1A State Road A1A (SR A1A) is a major north–south Florida State Road that runs along the Atlantic Ocean, from Key West at the southern tip of Florida, to Fernandina Beach, just south of Georgia on Amelia Island. It is the main road throug ...

'' is the title of a 1974 album by

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffet ...

; one of the album's tracks, "Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season", also mentions the road. *A1A was mentioned in Kenny Chesney's songs "Outta Here" and "Coastal" *A1A was mentioned in Patty Griffin's song "Florida"

References

External links

Scenic and Historic A1A Coastal BywayFlorida Scenic Highways; Broward County A1A Scenic Highway
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County roads in Martin County, Florida County roads in Palm Beach County, Florida County roads in St. Johns County, Florida 0001 1945 establishments in Florida Florida Scenic Highways