Florida State Road 80

State Road 80 marker

State Road 80
Route information
Maintained by FDOT
Length: 123.480 mi[1] (198.722 km)
Existed: 1945 renumbering (definition) – present
Major junctions
West end: US 41 in Fort Myers
  SR 29 in LaBelle
US 27 in South Bay
US 98 / US 441 near Belle Glade
I-95 in West Palm Beach
East end: SR A1A in Palm Beach
Location
Counties: Lee, Hendry, Palm Beach
Highway system
← SR 79SR 81 →

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

Former SR 80 through downtown Fort Myers as First Street. The street is paved with brick to preserve the historic nature of the area.

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 and Monroe Street though historic downtown Fort Myers to State Road 82, where it becomes discontinuous. State Road 80 resumes at Fowler Street (US 41 Business/SR 739), where it runs east as a pair of two lane, one-way streets weaving through central Fort Myers, with westbound lanes on First Street, and the eastbound lanes running on Second Street. The eastbound lanes rejoin the westbound lanes via Seaboard Street (a former Seaboard Air Line Railroad corridor) just east of Dean Park, forming the four-lane divided Palm Beach Boulevard. From there, it follows the Caloosahatchee 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 becomes a two-lane highway 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.[2][3]

Palm Beach County

SR 80, looking east

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.[2][3]

History

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.[4] 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.[5]

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).[6]

The segment between Belle Glade and Twenty Mile Bend, known 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.[7] 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.[8] The road was known as "Killer 80" due to its high fatality rate.[9] 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.[8] 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.[10][11]

State Road 80's routing through downtown Fort Myers has changed a few times over the years. When designated in 1945, State Road 80 terminated at First and Fowler Streets (which carried US 41 when it crossed the Edison Bridge). SR 80 would be extended through downtown in 1964 when US 41 was rerouted over the Caloosahatchee Bridge (with First Street also carrying the U.S. Route 41 Business route concurrently).[12] In the 1980s, SR 80 was split into one-way street pairs from Monroe Street to Palm Beach Boulevard and Seaboard Street, with eastbound traffic using Second and Seaboard Streets, and with westbound traffic using First and Bay Streets.[13] The segment 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, creating the gap in the route that exists today.[1][14]

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.[15]

Future

The two bridges crossing Lake Worth Lagoon, built in 1950, are currently in the planning stages for replacement, with construction expected to begin in 2015.[16]

Major intersections

CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
LeeFort Myers0.0000.000 US 41 (Cleveland Avenue) to SR 867 south (McGregor Boulevard)
0.1680.270Monroe Street / Main Street - Downtown Fort Myers
0.2420.389Second Streetformer SR 80 east (prior to 2006)
0.3160.509
SR 82 (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) to US 41 Bus.
Gap in route
0.0000.000
US 41 Bus. south (Fowler Street / SR 739)		west end of state maintenance
0.2370.381
US 41 Bus. north (Park Avenue / SR 739) – North Fort Myers
0.81.3Billy's Creek Bridge over Billy Creek (westbound only)
Tice3.8616.214Ortiz Avenue (CR 865 south)
​5.068.14 I-75 (SR 93) – Naples, TampaExit 141 (I-75)
​7.74612.466 SR 31 north – Arcadia
​10.23816.476Old Olga Road / Buckingham Road - Lehigh Acres
​17.15127.602Broadway Street (CR 78) - Alva, Caloosahatchee Regional Park
​17.72428.524 CR 884 west (Joel Boulevard) – Lehigh Acres
Hendry​22.86036.790Fort Denaud Road (CR 78A east) - Fort Denaud
LaBelle27.32543.975 CR 80A east (Cowboy Way) / Fort Denaud Road – Airport
28.45045.786Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (CR 731 south)
29.21047.009 SR 29 south (Main Street) – ImmokaleeWestern end of SR 29 concurrency
29.27747.117 SR 29 north (Bridge Street) – PalmdaleEastern end of SR 29 concurrency
Port LaBelle34.23055.088 CR 80A west (Cowboy Way) – Edison State College
​48.70978.390 CR 833 south – Big Cypress Seminole Reservation
Whidden Corner51.67783.166 US 27 north (SR 25) – Moore Haven, Haines CityWestern end of US 27 / SR 25 concurrency
​58.09693.496 CR 720 west
Clewiston60.67097.639W.C. Owen Avenue (CR 832)
​62.851101.149 CR 835 south (Evercane Road)
Palm BeachSouth Bay76.526123.157 US 27 south (SR 25) – Fort LauderdaleEastern end of US 27 / SR 25 concurrency
Belle Glade78.329126.058 SR 715 north (Southwest 16th Street) – Pahokee, truck bypass to West Palm Beach, Pahokee, Canal Point
79.391127.767 CR 827A south
80.524129.591 CR 880 east (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard)Southern end of SR 15 concurrency; former SR 80 (prior to 1989)
80.766129.980East Canal Street South (SR 717 east)south end of SR 717 overlap
80.814130.058 SR 717 west (West Canal Street North)north end of SR 717 overlap
​83.534134.435 US 98 west / US 441 north / SR 15 north – truck by-pass to Pahokee, Canal Point
SR 812 west (Hooker Highway) – Pahokee, Canal Point, Palm Beach Community College, truck by-pass to South Bay		east end of SR 15 overlap; west end of US 98 / US 441 overlap
​96.871155.899 SR 700 west (Conners Highway) / CR 700 east – Canal Point
Twenty Mile Bend101.780163.799 CR 880 westformer SR 80 (prior to 1989)
Wellington–Royal Palm Beach line110.479177.799Forest Hill Boulevard / Crestwood Boulevard
Royal Palm Beach113.25182.26 US 441 south / SR 7 northInterchange; eastern end of US 441 concurrency
​115.47185.83 Turnpike (SR 91) – Miami, OrlandoExit 97 (Florida's Turnpike)
​116.79187.96Jog Roadinterchange
​118.32–
118.83		190.42–
191.24		 SR 809 (Military Trail) / Haverhill Roadinterchange
Glen Ridge120.68194.22 SR 807 south (Congress Avenue) / Australian Avenue (CR 704A north) – Palm Beach International Airportinterchange
West Palm Beach121.47195.49 I-95 (SR 9) – Miami, West Palm BeachExit 68 (I-95)
122.392196.971 US 1 (Dixie Highway / SR 805)
122.538197.206 SR 5 (South Olive Avenue)
Lake Worth Lagoon122.87197.74Southern Boulevard Bridge
Palm Beach123.480198.722 SR A1A (South Ocean Boulevard)Roundabout; east end of US 98 overlap
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. 1 2 3 FDOT straight line diagrams, accessed January 2014
  2. 1 2 Google (2010-05-03). "overview map of State Road 80" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  3. 1 2 Google Inc. (July 8, 2008). Google Earth (4.3.7284.3916) [beta]. Retrieved July 25, 2009. <http://earth.google.com/>
  4. ↑ Oeffner, Barbara D.; Dunning, Amie (2010). Images of America: Around Lake Okeechobee. Arcadia Publishing.
  5. ↑ "Historic and Architectural Resources of laBelle". National Park Service. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  6. ↑ http://www.us-highways.com/of021040.htm Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  7. ↑ Lowery, Fred (17 June 1985). "Highway Name To Pay Tribute To Area Engineer". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  8. 1 2 "As County Booms, State's Plans For Widening Roads Often Bust". Miami Herald 15 Feb 1987: 3PBS
  9. ↑ "Four Die in Crash on State Road 80". Miami Herald 23 Apr 1984: 15BR
  10. ↑ Palm Beach FDOT. "Southern Blvd. (SR 80) Projects". Retrieved July 25, 2009.
  11. ↑ Regnier & Associates, Inc. "State Road 80 Expansion". Retrieved July 25, 2009.
  12. ↑ Board, Prudy Taylor; Bartlett, Patricia Pope (1985). Lee County: A Pictorial History. Norfolk, VA: Donning Company. ISBN 0-89865-443-2.
  13. ↑ "Fort Myers Mobility Plan" (PDF). Spikowski Planning Associates. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  14. ↑ "Fort Myers Streetscape". Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  15. ↑ Cella Molnar & Associates, Inc. "State Road 80, US 27". Retrieved December 8, 2013.
  16. ↑ FDOT. "SR 80 (Southern Blvd) Bridges". Retrieved July 25, 2009.

Route map: Bing / Google

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Media related to Florida State Road 80 at Wikimedia Commons

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