State Road 520 (SR 520) is a east–west

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...

, United States, connecting with SR 50 in the

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

area with SR A1A in

Cocoa Beach Cocoa Beach is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The population was 11,539 at the 2018 United States Census. It is part of the Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The first non-native s ...

Route description

It runs from SR 50 in

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

east of

Bithlo Bithlo is a census-designated place and an unincorporated community in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 8,268 at the 2010 census, up from 4,626 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Orlando– Kissimmee Metropolitan St ...

, southeast across the

Beachline Expressway State Road 528 (SR 528), alternatively named the Martin Andersen Beachline Expressway (with parts previously named the Bee Line Expressway), is a partially-toll road, tolled state road in the U.S. state of Florida; it is maintained by ...

( SR 528). It intersects with County Road 532 (CR 532) before crossing the

St. Johns River The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...

into

Brevard County Brevard County ( ) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 606,612, making it the 10th-most populated county in Florida. The official county seat is located in T ...

. In that county it intersects SR 524 (the original approach to the Bennett Causeway) and SR 9 (

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...

, I-95), before entering Cocoa and intersecting SR 501, SR 519 and SR 5 (

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...

, US 1). In Cocoa, SR 520 is known as King Street. It then heads onto the Merritt Island Causeway, a series of bridges crossing the Indian River, Newfound Harbor and the

Banana River The Banana River is a lagoon that lies between Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida in the United States. It is part of the Indian River Lagoon system, and connects at its south end to the Indian River; it is the only p ...

. Between the Indian River and Newfound Harbor, it crosses through

Merritt Island Merritt Island is a peninsula, commonly referred to as an island, in Brevard County, Florida, United States, located on the eastern Floridian coast, along the Atlantic Ocean. It is also the name of an unincorporated town in the central and sout ...

, intersecting SR 3. East of the Banana River, SR 520 runs through Cocoa Beach, and heads towards its eastern terminus at SR A1A. From 2002 to 2007, the

Florida Department of Transportation The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is a decentralized agency charged with the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of public transportation in the state of Florida. The department was formed in 1969. It absorbed the powers of t ...

(FDOT) widened the stretch to four lanes. The stretch had garnered the nickname "Bloody 520" for the numerous fatalities that had occurred on this stretch.

History

SR 206 was legislated in 1931 to run from pre-1945 SR 4 (US 1) in Cocoa east across the Indian River to Merritt Island. There it would split, with one leg running south to Georgiana and the other north to Courtenay. (In 1937, both of these branches from Merritt Island became part of pre-1945 SR 219, later part of SR 3.) A 1935 law extended SR 206 west to Orlando along the planned Cocoa–Orlando Highway, which used Lake Road in the Cocoa area. Plans made by the State Road Department would have taken it into Orlando on Curry Ford Road (also defined as part of pre-1945 SR 411 in 1939). SR 70 was defined in 1933, running from SR 206 at Merritt Island east over the Banana River to pre-1945 SR 140 at Cocoa Beach. A branch would run north along the west side of the Banana River to connect with pre-1945 SR 219 at Orsino. Finally, SR 418 was defined along the existing Taylor Creek Road, running from pre-1945 SR 22 at

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

south to the Osceola County line, crossing the planned SR 206 about two-thirds of the way. By 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 ...

, only the sections of SR 206 and SR 70 east of Cocoa were completed. SR 520 was defined to use sections of SR 418, SR 206 and SR 70. It would begin at SR 50 (former SR 22) near Christmas and run southeast along the general alignment of SR 418, switching to SR 206 where its planned alignment crossed. (SR 418 south of that crossing later became SR 532.) From there it would take SR 206 to Merritt Island, and SR 70 the rest of the way to end at SR 1 (former SR 140). The section west of Cocoa was built in the 1950s. It used very little of the existing Taylor Creek Road, instead being built further west, joining SR 50 much closer to Bithlo than Christmas. At some point, Alafaya Trail was taken over from SR 50 north past the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

to downtown

Oviedo Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located ap ...

. SR 520 was extended west on SR 50 and then north on Alafaya Trail, ending at SR 419 and SR 426 in Oviedo. In the 1980s, SR 520 was truncated back to SR 50, and Alafaya became an extension of SR 434.

Major intersections

Former State Road 520A

Until about 1980, a spur from SR 520 to Lake Poinsett was designated State Road 520A by FDOT and its predecessor, the State Road Department. Known locally as Lake Poinsett Road, the former SR 520A is the sole access road to Poinsett Groves and Poinsett Shores. The northern end is an intersection with King Street just west of I-95 near Rockledge.

References

External links

*
Florida Route Log (SR 520)
{{DEFAULTSORT:520 State highways in Florida State Roads in Brevard County, Florida State Roads in Orange County, Florida