MELBOURNE, Fla. — A Melbourne road is getting redesigned, aimed at improving pedestrian and bicyclist safety.

The Florida Department of Transportation will revamp a 0.316 mile stretch of Montreal Avenue in the Eau Gallie Arts District between U.S. 1 and Pineapple Avenue. 

What You Need To Know

  • The contractor for the project is expected on site around mid-July

  • The Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville area was deemed to be one of the most dangerous for pedestrians in the country

  • The state-funded project is estimated to cost $1.3 million for construction

  • Learn more about Vision Zero

The road project includes shrinking the size of the traffic lanes from 14 feet to 11 feet in order to accommodate a new 7-foot bike lane.

“What we find is if we have very wide lanes, and it’s very comfortable to drive faster, you’re just naturally more comfortable driving faster,” said Loreen Bobo, the safety administrator for FDOT’s District Five. “So, we’re trying to do things to roadways so that you drive the speed that we want to you drive, so that it does make it safer.”

According to a 2021 report from the nonprofit Smart Growth America, the Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville area represented the fourth-most-dangerous metropolitan area for pedestrians in the United States. In fact, seven of the top 10 most dangerous spots in the U.S. are in Florida, with the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford area ranking No. 1.

The upgrade will also add new landscaped curb extensions; remove the six parallel parking spaces on the right side of the road and replace them with 11 on-street spaces on the left side (opposite of the new bike lane); and incorporate decorative crosswalks, reminiscent of those on the State Road 518 westbound road to the north.

As more communities across Brevard County adopt the Vision Zero goals, championed by the Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization, more safety improvements are needed. The initiative aims to eliminate traffic-related fatalities.

Kim Smith, the education and safety coordinator for the Space Coast TPO, said they are slowly taking positive steps toward changing the mindset of drivers and pedestrians by holding pop-up safety events.

“I think that people are in the right frame of mind where they want change,” Smith said. “People are beeping and waving at us and hollering at us, ‘Thank you for being out here.’ I think people are tired of losing loved ones and knowing that potential on our roadways.”

Beyond education, Smith said projects like the one in Melbourne are also necessary to help better protect the most vulnerable road users.

The design of the new road costs $702,000, with construction costs estimated at $1.3 million, according to FDOT.