State Road 56 East

SR 56 takes over the six lane arterial from SR 54 east at Wesley Chapel Boulevard (CR 54) through the Cypress Creek Town Center retail area.

05/29/24

Grand Cypress Drive ties into SR 56 at a ten lane wide intersection from Cypress Creek Town Center parcels both north and south. Traffic lights here commenced operations on September 15, 2015, just a month and a half before the grand opening of the Tampa Premium Outlets.

01/16/23

SR 56 arcs east from Cypress Creek Town Center to next meet I-75. A lane drop occurs along both directions of the six lane arterial for entrance ramps to I-75.

05/29/24

Traffic pattern changes on SR 56 shifted into their final configuration at the DDI with Interstate 75 on May 1, 2022. The two lane entrance ramp for southbound joins I-75 ahead of the northern apex with Interstate 275.

05/29/24

Adding an additional through lane for SR 56 east and two for SR 56 west, construction from January 2019 to April 2023 rebuilt the exchange with I-75 into a diverging diamond interchange (DDI).

01/16/23

Crossing over Interstate 75, the northbound entrance ramp for Ocala and Gainesville departs from SR 56 east.

01/16/23

03/21/23

Angling southeast from I-75, SR 56 advances between additional retail and Cypress Center office park.

09/26/22

A RIRO intersection connects eastbound SR 56 with Silver Maple Parkway ahead of the traffic light with the service road and Cypress Ridge Boulevard north.

09/11/17

Northwood Palms Boulevard heads south through the Northwood development to County Line Road from SR 56 opposite Arrowgrass Drive north to the MAA Seven Oaks apartment complex.

09/26/22

SR 56 east next intersects Ancient Oaks Boulevard north to the Seven Oaks development and Devonwood Drive south to an apartment complex.

02/23/26

Bruce B. Downs Boulevard (CR 581) converges with SR 56 in Wesley Chapel. Bruce B. Downs is county maintained south to New Tampa and the University of South Florida (USF).

02/23/26

Following a resurfacing project along Bruce B. Downs Boulevard north to CR 54 (Wesley Chapel Boulevard) in 2026, maintenance for the remainder of the arterial north will shift to Pasco County.

02/23/26

A trailblazer references the CR 581 northbound link with CR 54 east to Zephyrhills. SR 581 was established in place of what was SR 54 (Wesley Chapel Boulevard) between the west end of SR 56 and the north end of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard to retain a state road connection to Zephyrhills. This became irrelevant when the remainder of SR 54 east was transferred to county maintenance, but nonetheless the overhead here was updated to show CR 54.

02/23/26

Bruce B. Downs constitutes the main route south through the city of Tampa community of New Tampa. Construction through late 2018 expanded CR 581 within Hillsborough County to eight overall lanes. Pasco County Road 581 was already six lanes wide by that point.

02/23/26

Leaving the 11 lane wide intersection with Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, SR 56 makes a gradual northeasterly curve by The Shops at Wiregrass retail center to the Wiregrass development.

02/23/26

Shops Lane provides the second entrance to The Shops at Wiregrass from SR 56 eastbound at this traffic light.

01/01/22

Wiregrass Ranch Boulevard south and Mansfield Boulevard north come together at the succeeding traffic light along SR 56 eastbound. Wiregrass Ranch Boulevard leads north to the Estancia development. Mansfield Boulevard winds southeast through areas of Wiregrass Ranch and Meadow Pointe into Hillsborough County.

01/01/22

Reassurance marker posted after Mansfield Boulevard on SR 56 east.

01/01/22

Bending back toward the east, SR 56 continues from Hueland Pond Boulevard through additional developed areas of Wiregrass Ranch.

05/31/15

A temporarily rural stretch of four lane highway precedes Meadow Pointe Boulevard.

05/31/15

The extension of SR 56 opened east in 2010 provides another alternate route to Zephyrhills via Meadow Pointe Boulevard north to SR 54 east.

01/01/22

An end shield previously marked the temporary conclusion of SR 56 east at Meadow Pointe Boulevard. by the Meadow Pointe community.

09/11/17

SR 56 opened east from Meadow Pointe Boulevard the morning of July 10, 2019.

01/01/22

Removed by March 2021, a reassurance marker was posted east of Meadow Pointe Boulevard. Work on the ensuing six miles started in February 2017.

07/27/19

A number of U-turns were built into the design of SR 56 east of Meadow Pointe Boulevard to accommodate future development.

07/10/19

The Winding Ridge development is one of several that got underway soon after the extension of SR 56 opened.

01/01/22

The intersection with Oxbow Boulevard was prebuilt into SR 56 for the eventual River Landing development.

01/01/22

SR 56 eastbound crossing the New River.

07/10/19

The Summerstone development and other subdivisions built in 2021 line SR 56 east of the New River.

01/01/22

Morris Bridge Road (Pasco County Road 579) extends north from New Tampa and Hillsborough River State Park to SR 54 and Eiland Road on the western outskirts of Zephyrhills.

01/01/22

The reassurance marker for SR 56 after CR 579 (Morris Bridge Road) stands beyond the multi use path running along the south side.

01/01/22

Additional turn lanes were prebuilt along SR 56 east from Morris Bridge Road to U.S. 301 southwest of Zephyrhills.

01/01/22

07/10/19

State Road 56 eastbound concludes at U.S. 301 opposite an entrance to Festival Park.

07/10/19

01/01/22

U.S. 301 angles northeast into the city of Zephyrhills and southwest to Hillsborough River State Park and Thonotosassa east of Temple Terrace.

01/01/22