State Road 72

Traveling 41.58 miles across Sarasota and Desoto Counties in Southwest Florida, State Road 72 runs from Siesta Key on the Gulf Coast to Myakka River State Park and Arcadia. The western 5.2 miles of SR 72 along Stickney Point and Clark Roads constitute a mostly four lane commercial arterial. SR 72 east from Hummingbird Avenue, just beyond I-75, is two lanes. Increased traffic due to suburban development along SR 72 resulted in roundabouts being built in 2022 at both Proctor Road and Lorraine Road. Beyond Sarasota National Cemetery, the remainder of SR 72 east to SR 70 outside Arcadia is a two lane rural highway.

Florida State Road 72 Guides

• East
• West

Costing $62.4 million, Project ID 201277-3-52-01 at Interstate 75 and SR 72 redesigns the diamond interchange into a DDI and expands Clark Road to eight overall lanes through the exchange. Design work started in March 2014 and was completed in Spring 2021. Split into three stages, construction commenced on auxiliary lanes for I-75 in late 2021. Stage II adding noise walls, building the DDI and making other improvements to Clark Road followed by mid 2022. Stage III, scheduled for early to mid late 2023, completes resurfacing and opens the DDI.¹

0.98 miles of SR 72 west of U.S. 41 was transferred from Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) maintenance to Sarasota County per an exchange adding 5.84 miles of River Road in North Port to the state. The move in 2018 also included relinquishing the westernmost segment of SR 758 on Siesta Key.