Getting around Daytona Beach is as easy as ABC. The roadways are modern, and generally in good shape, especially when compared to roads up north in the freeze zones. In this article I'll focus on getting around the beach area in Greater Daytona Beach, and Volusia County.
The one street almost everybody who comes to the east coast of Florida knows is Florida's State Road A-1-A. SR A-1-A is the road that runs approximately 338 miles along the Atlantic coast of Florida, from the Georgia State line near Jacksonville through Miami and all the way to Key West.
As with most federal, state or even county numbered routes, SR A-1-A goes by many other local street names as it passes through different communities up and down Florida's east coast.
In 2024 the Florida Legislature officially named the entirety of SR A-1-A the "Jimmy Buffet Memorial Highway." I love the fact that they honored the passing of a beloved artist who though he was not homegrown, adopted Key West, Florida as his own. For once, I feel like the politicians got it right, and didn't name the road after one of their own political tribe.
From the northernmost boundary of Volusia County, SR A-1-A leaves Flagler County and passes through the beachside community of Ormond-By-the-Sea, where it is called Ormond Shore Blvd., with the street addresses descending as you continue south. Upon reaching the municipality of Ormond Beach, when SR A-1-A intersects Ormond's north-south street divider State Road 40, a.k.a., E Granada Blvd., it becomes S Atlantic Ave., with the street numbers ascending.
At the Daytona Beach city limits, (a bit south of the Harvard Dr. Beach Access Ramp), SR A-1-A becomes N Atlantic Ave., with the street addresses descending until you reach US Route 92, a.k.a. International Speedway Blvd., the City of Daytona Beach's north-south divider street. At that point, SR A-1-A, becomes S Atlantic Ave., and remains so with the address numbers once again ascending in value. S Atlantic passes through Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach Shores, Wilbur-By-the-Sea, and the City of Ponce Inlet respectively, until it ends at the intersection of S Atlantic Ave. and Peninsula Dr.
Just to make things a bit more confusing, SR A-1-A actually ends along the coast for several miles to circumvent the Ponce Inlet, which provides access to the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean from the Halifax River. The Halifax River is also a part of the 3,000 mile Intracoastal Waterway running south along the Atlantic Coast from Massachusetts, around the tip of the Florida Peninsula, and then along the U.S. Gulf coast all the way to Brownsville, TX.
To get around the waterway inlet, SR A-1-A and the Jimmy Buffet Memorial Highway swing west at Dunlawton Ave., cross over the Halifax River and then continue south along U.S. Highway 1 into New Smyrna Beach. From there it gets much more complicated, so I'll leave that for another day.
Along the western shore of the barrier island in northern Volusia County, the primary main north-south street is Peninsula Drive, which starts in Daytona beach threading its way through the same municipalities, with the addition of Port Orange, where it takes a short break at Dunlawton Ave. and then gets back on track until it reaches the Ponce Inlet at the aforementioned intersection of Peninsula Drive and S Atlantic Ave. just south of the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse and Museum and Lighthouse Point Park.
One final point of interest worth mentioning. A portion of SR A-1-A in Ormond Shore and Ormond Beach is part of the Ormond Scenic Loop and Trail, designated a "Florida Scenic Highway" in 2007. Again, that's the subject for another date in the near future.
One word of warning. When driving on SR A-1-A, the speed limit remains between 30-35 mph for most of its 26 miles, and is strictly enforced by all of the municipality police departments it passes through, so kick back and enjoy the scenery. Nobody needs a ticket to screw up your day. Happy Cruising!
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