Florida State Road 80
State Road 80 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Map SR 80 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by FDOT | ||||
| Length | 123.500 mi[1] (198.754 km) | |||
| Existed | 1945 renumbering (definition)–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |  US 41 in Fort Myers | |||
 I-75 near Tice SR 29 in LaBelle US 27 in South Bay  US 98 / US 441 near Belle Glade Florida's Turnpike near Royal Palm Beach I-95 in West Palm Beach US 1 in West Palm Beach | ||||
| East end |  US 98 / SR A1A in Palm Beach | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Florida | |||
| Counties | Lee, Hendry, Palm Beach | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
State Road 80 (SR 80) (also known as Palm Beach Boulevard in Lee County and Southern Boulevard in Palm Beach County) is a 123.5 miles (198.8 km) route linking US 41 Business in Fort Myers and State Road A1A in Palm Beach. The road is the northernmost of three linking Southwest Florida to South Florida via the Everglades (Alligator Alley and Tamiami Trail being the other two). Due to increasing traffic, State Road 80 has experienced upgrades and widening in various sections since 2000.
Route description
Lee and Hendry Counties
State Road 80 begins at an intersection with US 41 (Tamiami Trail) in downtown Fort Myers. From the terminus, it runs briefly along Main Street northeast to Monroe Street in the historic downtown of Fort Myers. This segment of SR 80 terminates at Monroe Street and the route becomes discontinuous. Historically, SR 80 continued east through downtown but that segment has since been turned over to city control.[2]
State Road 80 resumes at Allen Street (just east of Seaboard Street) on the east side of Fort Myers.[3] From here, it is known as Palm Beach Boulevard, a four-lane divided highway that parallels the Caloosahatchee River. It follows the river east out of the city, expanding to six lanes east of the Ortiz Avenue (CR 865) intersection in Tice. It has an interchange with Interstate 75 as it passes through the eastern suburbs of Fort Myers before being reduced to four lanes east of SR 31 before leaving Lee County and entering Hendry County. At its county seat, LaBelle, it serves as the town's main street and intersects SR 29. After LaBelle, it continues east until an interchange with US 27, where the two roads run concurrently as a four-lane highway as it heads east towards Clewiston and the southern coast of Lake Okeechobee.[4][5]
Palm Beach County
In Palm Beach County, it serves as a commuter route between South Bay and Belle Glade at the western end, growing suburbs Loxahatchee, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach and county seat West Palm Beach. In South Bay, US 27 heads south towards Miami, following the North New River Canal. Between Belle Glade and Loxahatchee, the roads are surrounded by sugarcane fields, with US 441 and US 98 both joining State Road 80 during this stretch. Lion Country Safari marks the beginning of a rural to urban transition of the road for the remainder of its journey. The road doubles from four to eight lanes in Royal Palm Beach, as the road serves as the border between Royal Palm Beach and Wellington. At the State Road 7 intersection, US 441 turns south towards Miami. The South Florida Fairgrounds and the Coral Sky Amphitheater, where the South Florida Fair takes place, are next on the route, just east of SR 7. After passing Florida's Turnpike, it gains two more lanes and becomes an expressway, with diamond interchanges with Jog Road, Haverhill Road and Military Trail. East of Military Trail, it loses a lane in each direction as it straddles the southern end of Palm Beach International Airport, where private aircraft are serviced, with commercial access to the airport available via SR 704A. It then approaches a bridge over the Tri-Rail main line as it intersects Interstate 95 at Exit 68, then becomes a four-lane road in several older, high-density neighborhoods in West Palm Beach. East of the Florida East Coast Railway bridge crossing, it intersects US 1 and SR 5, reducing to two lanes as it crosses Lake Worth Lagoon on two bridges, and ending on a roundabout with SR A1A in Palm Beach near the Mar-a-Lago estate.[4][5]
History
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The route of State Road 80 was largely built in the 1920s. The first vehicle to travel the route from Belle Glade to Palm Beach was in 1923.[6] The section from Twenty Mile Bend to West Palm Beach was considered part of the Conners Highway, which opened on July 4, 1924. Segments west of Lake Okeechobee would be completed by 1926.[7]
The route was first designated State Road 25 in 1923, running from Palm Beach to Punta Rassa. As a result of the 1945 Florida State Road renumbering, the route became State Road 80 from Fort Myers to Palm Beach, and the segment west of Fort Myers to Punta Rassa became State Road 867. (Ironically, State Road 25 still applies today to the concurrency with US 27 as that is now US 27’s hidden designation).[8]
The segment between Belle Glade and Twenty Mile Bend, designated as the Kenneth C. Mock Memorial Highway was completed in 1989, making SR 80 a four-lane divided highway between Belle Glade and West Palm Beach. Prior to this, SR 80 (and US 441) ran just to the south along what is now County Road 880.[9] US 98, which previously ran along SR 700 (Conners Highway), would later be rerouted onto this route beginning around 2000.
Until 2002, Palm Beach County's Southern Boulevard was a four-lane road with a center left-turn lane, causing high gridlock due to the rapidly growing western suburbs of Loxahatchee, Royal Palm Beach and Wellington.[10] The road was known as "Killer 80" due to its high fatality rate.[11] In 2002, after many years of debate, the Florida Department of Transportation embarked on a $78 million project to upgrade and widen Southern Boulevard from I-95 to US 441/SR 7.[10] Between 2003 and 2008, it was transformed into a limited-access highway with freeway-grade diamond interchanges at the most congested intersections, with traffic signals remaining at others.[12][13]
In Hendry County, a project to improve the intersection between SR 80 and US 27 and add an overpass was completed at the end of 2014.[14] SR 80 was widened from east of LaBelle to CR 833 west of Clewiston in 2020. This widening eliminated the last two-lane undivided segment of SR 80, and it is now at least four lanes from Fort Myers to West Palm Beach.[15]
Downtown Fort Myers alignment
State Road 80's routing through downtown Fort Myers has changed a few times over the years. When designated in 1945, State Road 80 ran along First Street and terminated at Fowler Street. At the time, US 41 (Tamiami Trail) ran through downtown Fort Myers on First Street west of Fowler Street and crossed the Caloosahatchee River on the original Edison Bridge.
SR 80 would be extended through downtown along First Street in 1964 when US 41 was rerouted over the Caloosahatchee Bridge near Carson Street on the west side of downtown (First Street also carried the US 41 Business Route concurrently west of Fowler Street at this time).[16]
In the late 1980s, SR 80 was split into one-way street pairs from Monroe Street through downtown to Seaboard Street in East Fort Myers. From Monroe Street, eastbound traffic ran along Second Street and Seaboard Street, where it reconnected to the westbound lanes at Palm Beach Boulevard. Westbound traffic continued along Palm Beach Boulevard and First Street, and then shifted to Bay Street west of Fowler Street. At Monroe Street, both directions rejoined along Main Street to connect to US 41.[17]
SR 80 between Monroe and Fowler Streets was relinquished to the city of Fort Myers on January 11, 2006 as part of the downtown redevelopment and streetscape effort, which first created the gap in the route that exists today. The city restored this segment of the streets to two-way traffic.[1][18] The segment of SR 80 east of Fowler Street to Allen Street (just east of Seaboard Street) remained one-way and under state control at this time.
SR 80 east of Fowler Street to Allen Street was relinquished to the city in August 2018.[19] Though the state still maintains the historic Billy's Creek Lift Bridge.[3] The City of Fort Myers restored the remaining one-way segments of First, Second, and Seaboard Streets to two-way traffic in June 2022.[20][21]
Future
The two bridges crossing Lake Worth Lagoon, built in 1950, are currently undergoing replacement, with construction having begun in 2017. The main, bascule style drawbridge has been completely demolished and replaced with a temporary vertical lift bridge which opened in May 2018 and is expected to remain open until late 2020, when the permanent replacement bridge is expected to be completed. The tide-relief bridge is also now under replacement.[22]
Major intersections
| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lee | Fort Myers | 0.000 | 0.000 |    US 41 (Cleveland Avenue) to CR 867 south (McGregor Boulevard) | west end of concurrency with US 41 Bus. | ||
| 0.168 | 0.270 |    SR 82 east / US 41 Bus. east (Monroe Street south)Main Street east – Downtown | east end of concurrency with US 41 Bus. | ||||
| Gap in route | |||||||
| 0.000 | 0.000 |  US 41 Bus. south (Fowler Street / SR 739) | One-way southbound | ||||
| 0.237 | 0.381 |  US 41 Bus. north (Park Avenue / SR 739) – North Fort Myers | One-way northbound | ||||
| 0.831 | 1.337 | Billy's Creek Bridge over Billy Creek (under state maintenance) | |||||
| 1.261 | 2.029 | Allen Street | west end of state maintenance | ||||
| Tice | 3.861 | 6.214 | Ortiz Avenue (CR 865 south) | Northern terminus of CR 865 | |||
| | 5.060 | 8.143 | I-75 – Naples, Tampa | Exit 141 on I-75 | |||
| Fort Myers Shores | 7.746 | 12.466 |  SR 31 north – Arcadia | Southern terminus of SR 31 | |||
| Buckingham Road (CR 876 west) – Lehigh Acres | Eastern terminus of CR 876 | ||||||
| Alva | 17.151 | 27.602 | Broadway Street to CR 78 – Alva | ||||
| 17.724 | 28.524 |   CR 884 west (Joel Boulevard) – Lehigh Acres | Western terminus of CR 884 | ||||
| Hendry | | 22.860 | 36.790 | Fort Denaud Road (CR 78A east) – Fort Denaud | Western terminus of CR 78A | ||
| Fort Denaud | 27.325 | 43.975 | Fort Denaud Road (CR 78A west) / Cowboy Way (CR 80A east) | Eastern terminus of CR 78A; western terminus of CR 80A | |||
| LaBelle | 28.450 | 45.786 | Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (CR 731 south) | ||||
| 29.210 | 47.009 | SR 29 south (Main Street) – Immokalee | Western terminus of concurrency with SR 29 | ||||
| 29.277 | 47.117 | SR 29 north (Bridge Street) – Palmdale | Eastern terminus of concurrency with SR 29 | ||||
| Port LaBelle | 34.230 | 55.088 |  CR 80A south (Cowboy Way) | Northern terminus of CR 80A | |||
| | 48.709 | 78.390 |  CR 833 south – Big Cypress Seminole Reservation | Northern terminus of CR 833 | |||
| Whidden Corner | 51.677 | 83.166 | US 27 north – Sebring | Interchange; western terminus of concurrency with US 27 | |||
| | 58.096 | 93.496 |  CR 720 west | Eastern terminus of CR 720 | |||
| Clewiston | 60.670 | 97.639 | W.C. Owen Avenue (CR 832 east) | Western terminus of CR 832 | |||
| | 62.851 | 101.149 |  CR 835 south (Evercane Road) | Northern terminus of CR 835 | |||
| Palm Beach | South Bay | 76.526 | 123.157 | US 27 south – Fort Lauderdale | Eastern terminus of concurrency with US 27 | ||
| Belle Glade | 78.329 | 126.058 |  SR 715 north (SW 16th Street) – Pahokee | Southern terminus of SR 715; truck bypass to West Palm Beach, Pahokee, and Canal Point} | |||
| 79.391 | 127.767 |  CR 827A south | Northern terminus of CR 827A | ||||
| 80.524 | 129.591 | Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (CR 880 east) SR 15 | Former routing of SR 80 until 1989; western terminus of CR 880; southern terminus of SR 15 | ||||
| 80.766 | 129.980 | Canal Street South (SR 717) | |||||
| | 83.534 | 134.435 |   US 98 west / US 441 north / SR 15 north (Hooker Highway) / SR 812 west – Pahokee, Canal Point | Eastern terminus of concurrency with SR 15; western terminus of concurrency with US 98 / US 441; truck bypass to Pahokee, Canal Point, South Bay | |||
| | 96.871 | 155.899 |    SR 700 west / CR 700 east (Conners Highway) – Canal Point | Eastern terminus of SR 700; western terminus of CR 700 | |||
| Twenty Mile Bend | 101.780 | 163.799 |  CR 880 west | Former routing of SR 80 until 1989 | |||
| Wellington–Royal Palm Beach line | 110.479 | 177.799 | Forest Hill Boulevard / Crestwood Boulevard | To SR 882 | |||
| Royal Palm Beach | 113.25 | 182.26 |  US 441 south / SR 7 | Interchange; eastern terminus of concurrency with US 441 | |||
| | 115.47 | 185.83 | Florida's Turnpike / Pike Road – Miami, Orlando | Southbound Turnpike is accessed via Pike Road; exit 97 on Turnpike | |||
| | 116.79 | 187.96 | Jog Road | Interchange | |||
| | 118.32– 118.83 | 190.42– 191.24 |  SR 809 (Military Trail) / Haverhill Road | Interchange | |||
| Glen Ridge | 120.68 | 194.22 |   SR 807 south (Congress Avenue) / Australian Avenue (CR 704A north) – Palm Beach International Airport | Interchange; northern terminus of SR 807; southern terminus of CR 704A (former SR 704A) | |||
| West Palm Beach | 121.47 | 195.49 | I-95 – Miami, West Palm Beach | Exit 68 on I-95 | |||
| 122.392 | 196.971 | US 1 (Dixie Highway / SR 805) | |||||
| 122.538 | 197.206 |  SR 5 (Olive Avenue) | |||||
| Lake Worth Lagoon | 122.87 | 197.74 | Southern Boulevard Bridge | ||||
| Palm Beach | 123.480 | 198.722 | SR A1A (Ocean Boulevard) | Traffic circle; eastern terminus of US 98 | |||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
- ^ a b c FDOT straight line diagrams Archived March 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, accessed January 2014
- ^ Road Maintenance System (Map). Cartography by Lee County GIS. Lee County Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
- ^ a b Transportation and Data Analytics Office (February 15, 2021). "Straight Line Diagram of Road Inventory". Florida Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
- ^ a b Google (2010-05-03). "overview map of State Road 80" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
- ^ a b Google Inc. (July 8, 2008). Google Earth (4.3.7284.3916) [beta]. Retrieved July 25, 2009. <http://earth.google.com/>
- ^ Oeffner, Barbara D.; Dunning, Amie (2010). Images of America: Around Lake Okeechobee. Arcadia Publishing.
- ^ "Historic and Architectural Resources of laBelle". National Park Service. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
- ^ Transportation and Data Analytics Office (August 30, 2017). "Straight Line Diagram of Road Inventory". Florida Department of Transportation. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
- ^ Lowery, Fred (17 June 1985). "Highway Name To Pay Tribute To Area Engineer". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ a b "As County Booms, State's Plans For Widening Roads Often Bust". Miami Herald 15 Feb 1987: 3PBS
- ^ "Four Die in Crash on State Road 80". Miami Herald 23 Apr 1984: 15BR
- ^ Palm Beach FDOT. "Southern Blvd. (SR 80) Projects". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
- ^ Regnier & Associates, Inc. "State Road 80 Expansion". Archived from the original on 2009-09-13. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
- ^ Cella Molnar & Associates, Inc. "State Road 80, US 27". Archived from the original on 2011-02-07. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ^ Williams, Roger (26 August 2021). "Florida's Long and Winding State Road". Florida Weekly. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
- ^ Board, Prudy Taylor; Bartlett, Patricia Pope (1985). Lee County: A Pictorial History. Norfolk, VA: Donning Company. ISBN 0-89865-443-2.
- ^ "Fort Myers Mobility Plan" (PDF). Spikowski Planning Associates. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
- ^ "Fort Myers Streetscape". Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". First & Second Streets Two-Way Traffic Conversion Project. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
- ^ Levy, Gail (16 June 2022). "Fort Myers' First St and Palm Beach Blvd two-way conversion complete". WINK-TV. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- ^ "First and Second Street Two-Way Traffic Conversion Project". City of Fort Myers. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
- ^ FDOT. "SR 80 (Southern Blvd) Bridges". Retrieved July 25, 2009.
External links
Media related to Florida State Road 80 at Wikimedia Commons