With the rapid rise in population both on the island and in the general Melbourne area, a new source of handling the heavy volume of traffic was required. Proposed alternatives included building another bridge but studies showed that (as in the 192 bridge in Melbourne Center), traffic congestion would still be a problem. The second proposal was to build an underground tunnel linking the mainland to the island.

Surveys were performed to see if this was economically sound, population impact, road usage, traffic considerations and how it would affect traffic both on routes A1A and 1.

In 1996, construction started on the west side of the Indian River. Leasing a tunnel boring machine from US Tunnel Machines, Inc., boring started in May of 1996. Breakthru was completed in July of 1997 with final tunnel completion on February, 1998.

The Indian River Tunnel was officially opened on 1 April, 1997.

The Indian River Tunnel is a 4 lane, east-west tunnel connecting the Melbourne-Palm Bay metropolitan side of the river, to Indialantic, on the east side of the river.

The Indian River Tunnel is a 4 lane, east-west tunnel connecting the Melbourne-Palm Bay metropolitan side of the river, to Indialantic, on the east side of the river.

Tunnel Data:
Length - 1.4 miles
Interior Height - 20' 7.5"
Width at ground level - 59' 3"
Lanes- 4: 2 running east, 2 running west
Maximum vehicle weight - 45 tons
Minimum Vehicle Speed - 55 Miles Per Hour
Maximum Vehicle Speed - 75 Miles Per Hour
Average time to enter one side and exit the other - 1.3 minutes***
Ventilation - powered by 4 300 HP blowers Exit
Access - direct acces to both routes A1A (on the Indialantic side) and US 1 on the Melbourne side.

Tunnel Tolls:
4-6 wheel vehicles - cars, trucks, vans, RV's - $.25 cents each way
8 - 18 wheel vehicles - $.50 each way
Passes are available online at Indian River Tunnel Pass.

DISCLAIMER: This is a fictional tunnel. This website was created to make people wonder where the tunnel is (hopefully humorous when they find out), and to gain exposure for the South Brevard Business Directory. All data, fees, everything stated is purely fiction.