Ocala- JAX

[02 Park Ave]

I say, are there plans for a tolled motorway along the Ocala to Jacksonville route?

[formulanone]

There's been talk of a bypass around US 301 in Starke, but I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon. It's a decently-traveled corridor, but I don't think it will ever be more than expressway-grade in a few areas.

It's all four lanes from Ocala to I-10. North of Ocala to Hawthorne, you can make pretty good time, then slow down for Waldo, Starke, and then Lawtey. Then, it's back to 65 up until I-10. I haven't driven the section from I-10 to Callahan, but I think the town of Baldwin is the only interruption, and it's not that big a town.

Waldo and Lawtey are the towns that should be bypassed (they're well-known speed traps), although Starke isn't that bad - some sections are posted at 30 mph - as long as it's not rush hour. Lawtey is a very short drop to 35 (although they'll make an even slower school zone out of it at times), but Waldo's lasts too long north of the FL 24 junction; there's nothing north of the tiny city center but a flea market for the next two miles.

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Edit: added link

[NE2]

I say, are there plans for a tolled motorway along the Ocala to Jacksonville route?

I say, yes. They're plans from the 1950s that were never carried through, but yes.

[roadman65]

It could be used as there is a demand for it.  Many coming from the Northeast use US 301 to bypass the I-4 nightmare when heading for the Tampa Bay Region.

Heck my cousin used to have a house in Pine Island where he frequented from New Jersey, and never used I-4 in his travels.  He always got off of I-95 at FL A1A near Yulee, used A1A NB (signed WB now) to US 301 SB to SR 24 WB to reach I-75.  I would imagine that others in SW Florida avoid Orlando as well as him.

Anyway, the original plan for the Florida Turnpike (Sunshine State Parkway) was close to this if I am right as it was to go to Jacksonville in its original conception.

[Fred Defender]

It could be used as there is a demand for it.  Many coming from the Northeast use US 301 to bypass the I-4 nightmare when heading for the Tampa Bay Region.

Heck my cousin used to have a house in Pine Island where he frequented from New Jersey, and never used I-4 in his travels.  He always got off of I-95 at FL A1A near Yulee, used A1A NB (signed WB now) to US 301 SB to SR 24 WB to reach I-75.  I would imagine that others in SW Florida avoid Orlando as well as him.

Anyway, the original plan for the Florida Turnpike (Sunshine State Parkway) was close to this if I am right as it was to go to Jacksonville in its original conception.

I have a Shell Oil map from the late-1950's (no date on the map, but I would guess 1957 or '58) which shows the proposed northern extension of the Sunshine State Parkway following (more or less) its present alignment west of the Orlando area then curving to the north passing to the east of Ocala and Gainesville then curving to the northeast towards a terminus in Jacksonville.

[NE2]

I have a Shell Oil map from the late-1950's (no date on the map, but I would guess 1957 or '58) which shows the proposed northern extension of the Sunshine State Parkway following (more or less) its present alignment west of the Orlando area then curving to the north passing to the east of Ocala and Gainesville then curving to the northeast towards a terminus in Jacksonville.

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~212056~5500200:Shell-Highway-Map-of-Florida-

[Fred Defender]

I have a Shell Oil map from the late-1950's (no date on the map, but I would guess 1957 or '58) which shows the proposed northern extension of the Sunshine State Parkway following (more or less) its present alignment west of the Orlando area then curving to the north passing to the east of Ocala and Gainesville then curving to the northeast towards a terminus in Jacksonville.

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~212056~5500200:Shell-Highway-Map-of-Florida-

The map is packed away in a box somewhere and I haven't seen it in a number of years. But that's it.