State Road 3 (SR 3), known locally as North Courtenay Parkway, is a north–south road located entirely on

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 ...

, serving as the southern access for the

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...

near

Cape Canaveral, Florida Cape Canaveral ( es, Cabo Cañaveral, link=) is a city in Brevard County, Florida. The population was 9,912 at the 2010 United States Census. It is part of the Palm Bay–Melbourne– Titusville Metropolitan Statistical Area. History After t ...

. The shortest of the one-digit

Florida State Roads 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 ...

, its southern terminus is an intersection with SR 520 on

, east of

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 ...

Route description

SR 3, also known as North Courtenay Parkway, runs from SR 520 north through Merritt Island and into very rural areas before terminating at the Kennedy Space Center property line. The Florida Department of Transportation

annual average daily traffic Annual average daily traffic, abbreviated AADT, is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a y ...

(AADT) numbers for 2012 show an average of 26,000 vehicles just north of SR 520, increasing to 29,000 just south of SR 528/SR A1A, then decreasing to 25,500 just north of its crossing with those two roads, and further decreasing to 21,500, finally halving to 12,600 as the road approaches the turn to the north-east and its northern terminus.

History

Not one inch of the original alignment of SR 3 is in the current route. Until the opening of the Emory L. Bennett Causeway in June 1956, the route to KSC was signed SR A1A as A1A was routed across 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 ...

on the Merritt Island Causeway (SR 520) – and was, in fact, cosigned with SR 520 – and then northward along North Tropical Trail through

to an intersection with the former SR 402 (now County Road 402) near the shore of

Mosquito Lagoon Mosquito Lagoon is a body of water located on the east coast of Florida in Brevard and Volusia counties. It is part of the Indian River Lagoon system and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. It extends from the Ponce de Leon Inlet to a point north ...

in the (present-day)

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) on the Atlantic coast of Florida's largest barrier island. NASA's Kennedy Space Center and visitor complex are also situated on the island and NASA can restrict acc ...

near Titusville. In the meantime, SR 3 extended along the length of Tropical Trail from

US 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 ...

near Oak Hill to the southern tip of Merritt Island, where it crosses the

on the

Mathers Bridge Mathers Bridge is a low-level swing bridge located on the southern tip of Merritt Island, Florida, Merritt Island, Florida, crossing the Banana River at the end of County Road 3 (Brevard County, Florida), County Road 3. History The bridge was ...

(a swing span

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

) before turning south on South Patrick Drive (present day SR 513) and crossing the Indian River back to the mainland on the

Eau Gallie Causeway The Eau Gallie Causeway connects Eau Gallie, Florida (which merged with Melbourne, Florida, Melbourne in 1969), with State Road A1A (Florida), SR A1A near Indian Harbour Beach, Florida, Indian Harbour Beach, across the Indian River Lagoon. Located ...

(present day

SR 518 Route 518, or Highway 518, may refer to: Canada *Manitoba Provincial Road 518 * Ontario Highway 518 United Kingdom * A518 road United States * Florida State Road 518 * County Road 518 (Pasco County, Florida) * Louisiana Highway 518 * Mary ...

) and terminating at

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 ...

( SR 5) in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Between then-SR 402 and SR 520, SR 3 was cosigned with SR A1A. The openings of the Emory L. Bennett Causeway and the

Pineda Causeway State Road 404 (SR 404), the Pineda Causeway, is an east–west divided highway currently running from Interstate 95 (I-95) to SR A1A at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida, US. It was opened as a toll road in 1971 and classified as ...

in 1971 triggered a massive transformation of SR 3. The former causeway shifted SR A1A to the north (to the newly extended

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

) as SR 3 was realigned to cover North Courtenay Parkway and provide the access to the Kennedy Space Center (the segment north of KSC lost its SR 3 and A1A signs); the latter causeway prompted the establishment of South Patrick Drive as the primary southern access to

Patrick Space Force Base Patrick Space Force Base is a United States Space Force installation located between Satellite Beach and Cocoa Beach, in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is named in honor of Major General Mason Patrick, USAAC. It is home to Space Lau ...

as SR 513. In 1976, 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 ...

added a "C-" prefix to the signs on the stretch south of SR 520 and started the transition from State Road 3 to County Road 3. Courtenay Parkway eventually was extended past the SR 520 beyond the Merritt Island Airport to the historic community of Georgiana, where it meets up with the older South Tropical Trail, however this is a county facility and does not carry the state road designation. The last phase was completed in the late 1980s.

Major intersections

References

External links

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Merritt Island, Florida 1945 establishments in Florida