Florida State Road 401


State Road 401 is a four-lane highway extending from a southern terminus at a trumpet interchange with the Martin Andersen Beachline Expressway and SR A1A to a northern terminus of the south gate of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station near Cape Canaveral. It is one of the shortest signed roads in the State of Florida. The route designation was established in June 1956.

Route description

While the highway continues beyond the station gate to the launch pads of the Kennedy Space Center, the state designation no longer does, as civilians and most military personnel not assigned to the station are generally not permitted beyond the gate.

History

Before the construction of the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral AFS, the current SR 401 was a segment of SR A1A that extended from Fort Pierce to Playalinda Beach; afterwards, but before the completion of the Bee Line, SR A1A continued northward along Atlantic Avenue into Cape Canaveral, then turning westward onto George King Boulevard and then northward onto Samuel C. Phillips Parkway and ending at the station's gate. When the Bee Line's eastern extension was opened to traffic in June 1956, SR A1A was shifted over to Astronaut Boulevard and the new toll road, and the former alignment was given the SR 401 designation. The section of SR 401 passing through the City of Cape Canaveral eventually lost its route signs and designation, resulting in the current, much-shortened configuration of SR 401.

Major intersections