Spanning approximately 53 miles (85 km) along a west–east axis, it connects Interstate 4 (I-4) in Orlando with I-95, Titusville, and Cape Canaveral on the Space Coast.

Martin Andersen, a retired publisher, used his influence to get the original stretch of road (from SR 520 to Orlando International Airport) built in the 1960s.

The expressway continues east to the Beachline West barrier toll and then to SR 482 (McCoy Road/Sand Lake Road) (exit 8), ending FTE maintenance at the northwest edge of the airport.

Three miles (4.8 km) east of the airport, it intersects with the SR 417 (Central Florida GreeneWay), heading out of Orlando, with the road straightening out as a beeline for the rest of its journey in Orange County.

The Central Florida Expressway Authority, which operates part of the Beachline from McCoy Road, just east of the airport, to SR 520, accepts E-ZPass.

[9] Two managed lanes in each direction were opened in 2019 and 2020 for the eight miles between I-4 and McCoy Road near Orlando International Airport.

Eastbound drivers can enter from the general use lanes just east of I-4, and can exit shortly before Consulate Drive and Florida's Turnpike, or just before the airport.

[11] At that time, the area at the west end of SR 528 was basically empty, and the land was a part of the extensive Martin-owned Orlando Central Park, covering roughly the area bounded by I-4 to the west/northwest, the Florida Turnpike to the northeast/east, and SR 482 (West Sand Lake Road) to the south.

SR 528 was initially opened in 1967 and named "The Bee Line Expressway," because it "beelined" east to Interstate 95.

(Note: Beeline simply meant the most direct path from one point to another) Martin Andersen, then owner of the Orlando Sentinel, helped form the Central Florida Development Commission to ensure that Orlando would prosper, with one of its goals being developing an "adequate road system".

Its immediate goal was to build a road to the Kennedy Space Center, but the law was written with the intent of a larger expressway network.

Concurrently, the SRD was extending Lake Barton Road (now SR 436, Semoran Boulevard) south to the Jetport, where it would meet the Bee Line, which opened in 1969.

The OOCEA board had voted to name it after Martin Andersen in December 1966, and in 1967 the Florida Legislature passed this designation into law.

In December 1968, bonds were sold for a joint project—FTA would build from McCoy Jetport west to the Turnpike (at the existing Orlando-South interchange with Orange Blossom Trail), and Orange and Brevard Counties would fund the extension from SR 520 east to the Bennett and Orsino Causeways, in addition to a four-laning on the Bennett Causeway.

The rest of the road to I-4 was free; initially there were no interchanges except at International Drive, just east of I-4, but overpasses were built at roughly one-mile intervals which would eventually provide exits for Orangewood Boulevard and John Young Parkway.

[13] At the same time, construction had begun on the eastern section, originally known as the Central Florida Expressway,[8] by December 1971.

The road ran east from SR 520 past a toll booth to the St. Johns River, where it crossed into Brevard County.

The main line headed southeast from the split and then east across I-95 to join the Bennett Causeway approach just west of US 1.

It had two major intersections—Daetwyler Drive (the Jetport entrance) and Semoran Boulevard (SR 436), and a number of minor access points.

[13] Tolls were removed on the Bennett Causeway on June 29, 1990, as the bonds were paid off, making the road free east of the SR 520 interchange.

The break in the frontage allowing eastbound traffic to cross over to McCoy Road at that point had been closed about a decade before during a resurfacing project.

The name of the entire road, except between US 1 and SR 3 (where it is the Emory L. Bennett Causeway), was officially designated as the Martin Andersen Beachline Expressway by the 2005 Florida Legislature.

[20] This was done after lobbying by Brevard County, which wanted the shortest route to the Atlantic Ocean from the Orlando area designated as such.

An organization representing businesses on the Space Coast has put up billboards calling it "Orlando's closest beach".

The mainline toll plazas east and west of the airport remain subject to traffic congestion because of the high percentage of tourists at those plazas who must pay with cash since they don't have access to SunPass, E-Pass or other acceptable electronic toll collection transponders.

[citation needed] The OOCEA had a similar reconstruction of the Beachline main toll plaza just east of the Greeneway between January 2008 and July 2009.

[23] Sightseers wishing to view the final launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery in 2011, caused a 40-mile (64 km) backup from Cape Canaveral.