U.S. Route 192

Route map:

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(Redirected from Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway)

U.S. Highway 192

US 192 highlighted in red

Route information

Auxiliary route of US 92

Maintained by FDOT

Length

74.746 mi^[1] (120.292 km)

Existed

1926^{[citation needed]}–present

Major junctions

West end

US 27 in Four Corners

East end

SR A1A in Indialantic

Location

Country

United States

State

Florida

Counties

Lake, Orange, Osceola, Brevard

Highway system

United States Numbered Highway System

Florida State Highway System

←

SR 190

→

I-195

←

SR 528

SR 530

→

SR 533

U.S. Route 192 (US 192) is an east–west route of the United States Numbered Highway system in central Florida. It runs 75.04 miles (120.77 km) from U.S. Route 27 (State Road 25) in Four Corners, Lake County, east past Walt Disney World and through Kissimmee, St. Cloud and Melbourne, to end at State Road A1A in Indialantic, one block from the Atlantic Ocean. It crosses (and runs concurrent with) its "parent", U.S. Route 92, in Kissimmee, for only 3,700 feet (1,100 m).

The U.S. Route is assigned the following unsigned State Road numbers:

The full length of State Road 530, 18.41 miles (29.63 km) from US 27 (SR 25) to Main Street in Kissimmee
The southernmost part of State Road 500, 56.62 miles (91.12 km) from Kissimmee to Indialantic

US 192 is a major tourist strip in the area around the Walt Disney World Resort and features numerous timeshare and other resorts; the road includes "mile markers" (though not strictly placed at the exact mile intervals) to help tourists locate businesses. In the late 1990s, the Osceola Parkway (County Road 522) opened, providing a tolled alternate between Walt Disney World and Kissimmee.

For most of its route, US 192 is the Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway, named after former state representative, senator and cattleman Irlo O. Bronson, Sr.^[2] It is also known as Space Coast Parkway, as it leads to the Space Coast.

Route description

[edit]

US 192 (SR 530) begins at a trumpet interchange on U.S. Route 27 (State Road 25) in Lake County, just north of the Polk County line. (Three of the four ramps enter Polk County.) It heads east as a four-to-six lane divided highway, crossing into Orange County (just north of Osceola County) after about a mile (1.5 km). Soon after entering Orange County, County Road 545 heads north, serving the far western areas of the county. An old alignment of US 192 (Bali Boulevard) is present to the north between the county line and CR 545; it used to continue east to the south (in Osceola County) to near Lindfields Boulevard.

After spending under two miles (3.2 km) in Orange County, US 192 crosses the line into Osceola County, continuing to parallel it. It intersects with State Road 429 (opened to the north in late 2005 and to the south in late 2006) before curving southeast away from the county line. In that area, the density of tourist attractions increases as the road approaches Walt Disney World. An old alignment (Black Lake Road) is present on the north side between the curve away from the county line and Sherberth Road, near where it curves back east. Sherberth Road is the westernmost public access to Walt Disney World, intersecting the Osceola Parkway west of Disney's Animal Kingdom. Just east of it is an intersection with County Road 545, which heads south.

Near the crossing of Reedy Creek, US 192 enters the Reedy Creek Improvement District (Walt Disney World), although the highway remains under state ownership, unlike other roads in the RCID. Both sides of the road are owned by Disney and kept empty, so US 192 has a short freeway section through Walt Disney World. An interchange provides access to World Drive, the main north–south road in Walt Disney World, and then US 192 crosses Interstate 4 (State Road 400), the end of Disney property. The north side again is filled with tourist attractions, while the south side is at first part of Celebration, Disney's planned community.

Celebration Avenue heads south to an interchange with State Road 417, which crosses US 192 with no direct access. Just east of that crossing, US 192 crosses Bonnet Creek, the east end of Celebration, and International Drive heads north. An intersection with Poinciana Boulevard provides access to the Osceola Parkway to the north and Poinciana to the south, and State Road 535 heads north soon after. SR 535, and US 192 to the east, is part of the old Kissimmee-Vineland Road, built parallel to the Florida Midland Railroad; the intersection of US 192 and SR 535 has been moved to give US 192 the through road.

Just after crossing SR 535, US 192 turns southeast onto the alignment of the old Kissimmee-Vineland Road. Another old alignment - Old Vineland Road - is present in this section, rejoining as US 192 turns back east towards downtown Kissimmee. After the road crosses Shingle Creek, it becomes Kissimmee's Vine Street, a major east–west road passing north of downtown. Close to downtown, US 192 crosses John Young Parkway. This is a major north–south road from Kissimmee north to Orlando, built as an alternate to the Orange Blossom Trail. To the south, since ca. 2000, John Young Parkway carries U.S. Route 17/92 (State Road 600) southwest out of Kissimmee. US 17, US 92 and SR 600 run concurrent with US 192 and SR 530 for 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) to Main Street, which heads south into downtown Kissimmee and north to Orlando as the Orange Blossom Trail. This carries US 17, US 92 and SR 600 to the north, and carried them south until ca. 2000. Also to the north on Main Street is U.S. Route 441 (State Road 500); both of these routes turn east with US 192 out of Kissimmee. SR 530 ends at the intersection of Vine Street and Main Street; thus Vine Street carries US 192, US 441 and SR 500 east from Kissimmee.

Several miles from downtown Kissimmee, US 192 turns southeast. The road intersects Fortune Road (formerly Boggy Creek Road) before an interchange with Florida's Turnpike (State Road 91). This interchange, consisting of a connector road between US 192 and a trumpet interchange at the Turnpike, once served all movements. A new northbound offramp was built several miles to the east, where US 192 crosses the Turnpike, when the Turnpike north of SR 60 changed from a ticket system to a barrier toll system.

After crossing the Turnpike, US 192 turns back east, becoming 13th Street in St. Cloud. The original alignment (part of the Kissimmee-Melbourne Highway) between Kissimmee and St. Cloud, which paralleled the St. Cloud and Sugar Belt Railway, began at Main Street and Drury Avenue in downtown Kissimmee, heading east on Drury Avenue and Neptune Road, crossing US 192 west of downtown St. Cloud and becoming 10th Street. In St. Cloud, County Road 523 heads south at Vermont Avenue. After leaving St. Cloud, at the unincorporated community of Ashton, County Road 15 (Narcoossee Road) heads north past Narcoossee and into Orange County. Unsigned State Road 15 begins at that intersection, heading east with US 192, US 441 and SR 500. 10th Street (the old alignment) ends at CR 15 north of US 192, but the road used to continue across, turning southeast to hit US 192 east of CR 15.

Leaving the St. Cloud area, US 192 again begins to turn southeast, running mainly through swampland for the rest of its path to Melbourne. Another old alignment - Lake Lizzie Drive - begins there, running north of US 192 to its end just west of Alligator Creek. County Road 532 (Nova Road) splits off to the northeast in that area, crossing Lake Lizzle Drive and then turning east. After the Alligator Creek crossing, yet another old alignment - Old Melbourne Highway, former State Road 500A - splits to the east. Portions of this road have been closed to the public, as the old road runs past Mercury Marine's former Lake X landing strip. The rest of the alignment is on private property owned mostly by Deseret Ranch.

At Holopaw, around the middle of the old alignment, U.S. Route 441 and State Road 15 split off to the south, leaving only US 192 and SR 500 beyond to Melbourne. West of Deer Park, the old road crosses to the south side of the new road. Several miles later, at Deer Park, County Road 419 begins to the north; the road to the south is unnumbered and ends at old US 192. From there, the old alignment heads straight east back to the current road, passing the Kempfer Sawmill and the former Union Cypress Railroad.

Soon after the old and new alignments join, US 192 crosses into Brevard County on the original Kissimmee-Melbourne Highway, roughly paralleling the old Union Cypress Railroad. As it approaches Melbourne on New Haven Avenue, it crosses Interstate 95 (State Road 9), intersects County Road 511 (north only), crosses County Road 509, and intersects State Road 507. Soon after SR 507, US 192 cuts northeast to Strawbridge Avenue, which runs one block north of New Haven Avenue, providing a bypass of the Historic Downtown Melbourne. After crossing U.S. Route 1 (State Road 5) at the site of the historic 1900 Building, Strawbridge Avenue and New Haven Avenue merge at the west end of the Melbourne Causeway across the Indian River. New Haven Avenue is still maintained by the state east of US 1, and is considered a section of SR 500. East of the Indian River, US 192 enters Indialantic on Fifth Avenue, where it spends four blocks before ending at State Road A1A, one short block from the Atlantic Ocean.