Florida

[emory]

Agreed, particularly about the lack of traffic lights in Parkland.  The City of Parkland also likes low speed limits to go with their little circles and four-way stops.

Which is funny since Nob Hill Road is 45 MPH through Parkland, despite hitting a handful of 4-way stops.

You could see those little yellow lights for miles. Lox Road now has speed bumps. The CR 827 shields on SR7 are long gone.

GSV

Broward County has removed a few of those speedbumps.

[roadman65]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/traffic/I-4-makeover/os-i-4-ultimate-renderings-orlando-florida-pg-012-photo.html

A rendering of the new I-4 Lake Ivanhoe Bridge in Orlando, FL as part of the I-4 Ultimate Project.

[brownpelican]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/traffic/I-4-makeover/os-i-4-ultimate-renderings-orlando-florida-pg-012-photo.html

A rendering of the new I-4 Lake Ivanhoe Bridge in Orlando, FL as part of the I-4 Ultimate Project.

DAMN! That is nice.

[andy3175]

I don't have a photo to illustrate, but here's an oddity from Florida 30+ years ago:

Several miles north of Venice on US41, at the intersection of Albee Road, there used to be signs for "WEST 789" (indicating then SR789 - now a Sarasota County road). Then, 5-6 miles north, at Blackburn Point Road, there was another sign for "WEST 789". Unlike Siesta Key farther north which 789 ran up the length of, I do not believe that Casey Key Road itself was ever actually a state road.

FDOT should have marked Albee Road west of 41 for NORTH 789 and Blackburn Point as SOUTH 789. It was weird as heck to see signs for "WEST 789" and a few miles up the road see "WEST 789" again.

I've noticed it is difficult to find traditional Sarasota County Road pentagon route markers ... many of the County Roads appear to be unsigned, except when they intersect with I-75. My most recent example was looking at Sarasota County Road 765 (Jacaranda Blvd). Is this county doing away with signed county road markers?

[D-Dey65]

Can everybody here see that the left-turn signals are facing both directions on this pole?



That's eastbound Florida State Road 50 at Barclay Avenue and the entrance to the Brookridge Community. They've got the same thing on the pole over the westbound lane.

[FLRoads]

I've noticed it is difficult to find traditional Sarasota County Road pentagon route markers ... many of the County Roads appear to be unsigned, except when they intersect with I-75. My most recent example was looking at Sarasota County Road 765 (Jacaranda Blvd). Is this county doing away with signed county road markers?

As far as I know from my time working at Sarasota County, the numbered county road designations are more derived from an internal numbering system, much like some of the county road numbers in Pinellas County. Unlike Pinellas County though, Sarasota County simply has not, and does not, sign these routes.

University Parkway (CR 610) is somewhat of an exception, as it was originally planned in the late 1970's (according to FDOT Right-of-Way maps) as SR 610 but was never signed as such. When pentagons were first erected on guide signs along I-75, University Parkway was designated as CR 750, but were covered up by 2013 with CR 610 pentagons.

[Stephane Dumas]

I saw this short news from Tollroadsnews about the Polk County commissioners who wants to restart the cancelled Central Polk parkway project by creating a county regional toll authority.
http://tollroadsnews.com/news/daily-news-brief-january-13-2016#polk
http://www.theledger.com/article/20160112/news/160119832

[FLRoads]

I saw this short news from Tollroadsnews about the Polk County commissioners who wants to restart the cancelled Central Polk parkway project by creating a county regional toll authority.
http://tollroadsnews.com/news/daily-news-brief-january-13-2016#polk
http://www.theledger.com/article/20160112/news/160119832

Thanks for the update! I actually hadn't checked on the status of this project in a while so I had no idea that FDOT shelved it last month. And if the shelving was mentioned on here in the last month or so, I must have just missed it.

Hopefully they are successful in forming an expressway authority to continue the planning and implementation of this project. Though it would be toll it would be a badly needed relief route for U.S. 27 and other area corridors. Plus it might serve as a possible alternative (though a little costly depending on the toll amounts) for those driving to points of interest in southwest Florida from the Orlando area, instead of using I-4 to I-75.

[emory]

During my time in the Bradenton area I got to drive on FL 681 (old I-75), connecting US 41 in Nokomis to I-75. For the longest time it's been an expressway, but they've begun developing in the area and a few shopping plazas are going up. Now the road has one traffic light intersection active, and two more in progress.

[NE2]

FL 681 (old I-75)

[citation needed]

[realjd]

FL 681 (old I-75)

[citation needed]

Says on Wikipedia (no citation of course) that I-75 previously ended at SR681 which would have at least given the appearance that I-75 continued along it.

Edit: isn't there a website with historic Florida highway maps? I seem to remember there being one but I can't find it now.

[formulanone]

FL 681 (old I-75)

[citation needed]

Says on Wikipedia (no citation of course) that I-75 previously ended at SR681 which would have at least given the appearance that I-75 continued along it.

Edit: isn't there a website with historic Florida highway maps? I seem to remember there being one but I can't find it now.

Mmmm, I thought I-75's southern terminus was US 41 at FL 681 from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s. Could have sworn I've seen a few maps ending it Venice.

[FLRoads]

I-75 never strictly ended at State Road 681 as mentioned on Wikipedia. When that section opened by 1981, it opened from River Road to U.S. 301. Having grown up in the area and traveling with my parents frequently between Fort Myers and the Tampa area, we used I-75 wherever it was opened.

[florida]

The Florida Scenic Route situation is something created by Florida in the early-2000s, but they don't always route it along actual state routes. There's a former State A1A, which is now County A1A, and so I'm speculating the newest routing of A1A in St. Augustine didn't get the scenic route designation.

That intersection used to have a SOUTH CR A1A sign next to the SOUTH SR A1A sign. Maybe it was too confusing for motorists not knowing which southbound A1A to take.

At the southern split, CR A1A used to be signed as Business CR A1A but those signs are long gone now.

[florida]

For some reason, SR 312 was extended east from SR A1A to CR A1A in St. Augustine. [0.233 miles]

SR 429 from CR 435 to SR 46 has a date of Jan 12, 2016 for addition to the state highway system. [2.798 miles]

SR 39 from Joe McIntosh Road to the SR 39 Turnout (MP 3.364), and from north of the turnout (MP 3.493) up to Knights-Griffin Road has all been deleted per realignment.

[Brian556]

Quote from realjd:

Edit: isn't there a website with historic Florida highway maps? I seem to remember there being one but I can't find it now.

Hell yeah there is:
http://www.dot.state.fl.us/surveyingandmapping/FloridaTransportationMapArchive.shtm

[emory]

For some reason, SR 312 was extended east from SR A1A to CR A1A in St. Augustine. [0.233 miles]

It previously terminated at the SR A1A/CR A1A intersection. So, from what it sounds like, SR 312 now continues along A1A Beach Blvd and maintenance ends at the intersection with Old A1A South.

[jwolfer]

For some reason, SR 312 was extended east from SR A1A to CR A1A in St. Augustine. [0.233 miles]

It previously terminated at the SR A1A/CR A1A intersection. So, from what it sounds like, SR 312 now continues along A1A Beach Blvd and maintenance ends at the intersection with Old A1A South.

That sounds right

[emory]

SR 429 from CR 435 to SR 46 has a date of Jan 12, 2016 for addition to the state highway system. [2.798 miles]

SR 429 is the Western Expressway. It currently terminates near CR 437. Is this a proposed alignment? I can't think of a road that FDOT would adopt that connects those two.

[NE2]

SR 429 from CR 435 to SR 46 has a date of Jan 12, 2016 for addition to the state highway system. [2.798 miles]

SR 429 is the Western Expressway. It currently terminates near CR 437. Is this a proposed alignment? I can't think of a road that FDOT would adopt that connects those two.

http://wekivaparkway.com/

[emory]

SR 429 from CR 435 to SR 46 has a date of Jan 12, 2016 for addition to the state highway system. [2.798 miles]

SR 429 is the Western Expressway. It currently terminates near CR 437. Is this a proposed alignment? I can't think of a road that FDOT would adopt that connects those two.

http://wekivaparkway.com/

Ah. Thanks. I was just in that area a couple weeks ago. I would've checked out the unopened segment if I knew it existed.

[D-Dey65]

Remember those other shots of the doubled-left-turn signals at SR 50, Barclay Avenue and Brookridge? Well, here they are.

Eastbound:


Westbound:

Again, normally, just one will do.

[mrsman]

Remember those other shots of the doubled-left-turn signals at SR 50, Barclay Avenue and Brookridge? Well, here they are.


Again, normally, just one will do.

I'm of the school of thought that it's nice to have a little redundancy.  If one of the light bulbs goes out, you have the other one.  So I would like to see at least two of every signal face at each intesection.

Of course, it's easy to go overboard - but I don't think it applies in this situation.

[Brian556]

Could it be due to the signal head distance from stop bar rule?

[roadman65]

On another note, the Airport Toll Plaza on SR 528 is closing for good this Sunday Night.  Tolls from both will be collected at the Beeline West and it will go from $1.00 to $2.25 as that plaza was $1.25. 

The ramps at W Bound Exits 8 and 9 will have $1.25 ramp tolls to compensate for the short travels, and if you have SUNPASS or EPASS you will have some sort of reprieve as E Bound Exit 8 and the on ramp from McCoy Road at Boggy Creek Road to FL 528 W Bound will subtract $1.25 from you trip via overhead gantries installed on those ramps.

I know this is going to piss off a lot of motorists and I will have to hear it come Monday Morning.  However most people were complaining anyway about how close those two plazas were together as being less than five miles away from each other.   Most were asking if Florida does that everywhere where you pay a toll and then pull out to pay another.  In retrospect  I plan to kindly tell them that when they come through the plaza I work at that the increase is to eliminate another nearby plaza to make it one stop shopping instead of the two stops previous.  I am sure that will still not go well, but it is what it is.

So be prepared if you use FL 528 now.