When did the Beeline change it's name to the Beachline?

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I am just wondering when did the Beeline Expressway changes it's name to the Beachline Expressway?

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

It was a few years ago... but the transition has been a long one. Mostly because folks still call it the beeline, or just plain 528.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

The name was changed by the Florida Legislature in 2005 following intense lobbying by Brevard County who wanted to make sure everyone knew that Brevard County beaches were the closest beaches to metropolitan Orlando.

The official name is the Martin Andersen Beachline Expressway but everyone just calls it "The Beachline" or "The 528".

BobK/Orlando

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Thanks for that info & I am also one of those people who still calls it the Bealine Expressway.

 

[bicker]

Beachline makes a heck of a lot more sense.... why would you want to highlight bees?

 

[ducklite]

The name was changed by the Florida Legislature in 2005 following intense lobbying by Brevard County who wanted to make sure everyone knew that Brevard County beaches were the closest beaches to metropolitan Orlando.

The official name is the Martin Andersen Beachline Expressway but everyone just calls it "The Beachline" or "The 528".

BobK/Orlando

I didn't know it had a more official name than the "Beachline" or the 528. I think most locals are still calling it the Beeline or the 528, even though the traffic people refer to it as the Beachline.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

Beachline makes a heck of a lot more sense.... why would you want to highlight bees?

It used the old phrase "bee line" which would be synonymous with "as the crow flies." Until it was built there was no fast way to get to the shore from central Florida. Route 50 was the only other way, and it was a slow drive through small towns and low speed limits. The original thought was it gave people a way to make a "Bee Line" to the beach.

Anne

 

[bicker]

It used the old phrase "bee line" which would be synonymous with "as the crow flies."

Hence my smiley.

 

[seashoreCM]

There is still another highway (710) called the Beeline which runs northwest from West Palm Beach to Okeechobee.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[ducklite]

There is still another highway (710) called the Beeline which runs northwest from West Palm Beach.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

With a full three hours between them, they were not getting confused for each other. The Orlando area 528 was around first IIR.

That was not the reason behind the name change.

Anne

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Beeline Highway in Palm Beach County is of course completely unrelated to the Beeline/Beachline Expressway in central Florida.

SR528 used to be a connecting road that ran from I-4 to just east of McCoy Jetport, the predecessor of Orlando International Airport. Martin Andersen was the publisher of the Orlando Sentinel newspaper and was a proponent of getting an expressway-type road over to Kennedy Space Center on the coast. This led to the creation of the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority whose mission was (and continues to be) to build toll roads. The 528 was the first followed by the 408 (East-West Expressway), the 417 (Central Florida Greeneway), the 429 (Western Beltway) and now the 414 (Apopka Bypass).

BobK/Orlando