Minton Road - Current Conditions
Traffic on Minton Road, between Palm Bay Road and US192, is heavy and growing, due to massive development in this area. For many years, the Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization (SCTPO) has recognized the need to expand it to six lanes. They recently funded a comprehensive two-year study to assess the feasibility of the expansion. Here are a few quotes from their findings, published in December 2019:
"The 2018 traffic volumes along the study corridor range from 25,000 to 33,000 vehicles per day.… the study corridor has experienced volume‐to‐capacity (V/C) ratios ranging from 0.75 to 0.86 over the past three years. … The study corridor has experienced on average 205 crashes per year over the past 5 years … with an average of three per year involving pedestrians or bicyclists."
Here is a graphic that depicts Minton Road accidents involving pedestrians and bicyclists.
Here is a graphic that summarizes the crash data at each intersection
It is worth noticing that the Minton/Henry intersection also had a high accident rate. More on that later.
If you are still feeling positive about Minton Road, here is another quote from the study which should raise your level of concern: "The crossing guards stationed at Milwaukee Avenue/Heritage Oaks Boulevard and at Fell Road/Wingate Boulevard said they are almost hit by vehicles daily."
It the guards are in danger, your children are probably in greater danger!
Complacency would not seem to be what the doctor ordered.
So all in all, the study certainly confirmed the need for action. Unfortunately, they also found that expansion of Minton to six lanes would not be practical because of cost considerations. Instead, they proposed a series of minor tweaks to the road design, such as additional turn lanes and changes to medians, which should have the potential of reducing travel times, if implemented. However, no funding has been identified for any of these modifications, and no government agency has been tasked to initiate any action.
This problem is sure to grow over the next decade as a result of rampant development throughout the entire region.
We also note in passing that, according to information provided by a developer at a recent city council meeting, about 88% of the Minton Road traffic is from Palm Bay.
The upshot of all this is that we can think of Minton Road as being like a pipe under high pressure – traffic is seeking relief and will spew out wherever it sees an opening. Impatient, frustrated drivers will see the new Heritage/Doherty Extension as a welcome relief, a quick route to their destinations at Melbourne Square Mall, the big box stores, restaurants, etc. More about that on the following pages.