ORLANDO, Fla. – A busy stretch of State Road 520 in Brevard County is closed until next week for construction on Brightline’s high-speed passenger train.
The railroad crossing at S.R. 520 just west of U.S. 1 in Cocoa closed Sunday morning and is scheduled to reopen Wednesday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m.
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Crews are completing railroad crossing upgrades as part of Brightline’s extension project connecting South Florida to Orlando International Airport, the company said.
Drivers traveling east on S.R. 520 are being detoured south onto Fiske Boulevard, then east onto Barton Boulevard, and then north on U.S. 1 to return to S.R. 520.
Traffic going west on S.R. 520 is being directed south onto U.S. 1, then west onto Barton Boulevard, then north to Fiske Boulevard to access S.R. 520.
There are currently no plans for a stop in Brevard County, despite the route traversing more than 40 miles of the Space Coast. However, a Brightline spokesperson tells News 6 that could change in the future.
‘’It’s always been part of our strategic vision to have a station in the Space Coast and so we’re beginning those conversations, but right now our focus is getting to Orlando,’’ public affairs director Katie Mitzner said.
According to the company’s most recent timeline, Brightline expects to finish the $2.7 billion extension by the end of this year and start carrying passengers between Orlando and West Palm Beach in early 2023.