State Road 686 - East Bay Drive / Roosevelt Boulevard

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Traveling 10.82 miles across central Pinellas County, State Road 686 links the city of Largo with St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (PIE), Feather Sound and the Gateway area in north St. Petersburg. The entire route constitutes a multilane arterial, with interchanges at U.S. 19, CR 611 (49th Street N), both ends of the overlap with SR 686 (Ulmerton Road) and Interstate 275. Additionally work completed in early 2018 at the east end of SR 686, where Roosevelt Boulevard ties into SR 694 (Gandy Boulevard) by U.S. 92 (4th Street N), elevated Gandy Boulevard onto a freeway with SR 686 tieing into a new frontage road system.

Florida State Road 686 Guides

CR 416 / SR 686 East - 74 photos

SR 686 / CR 416 West - 73 photos

Gateway Expressway / State Road 686A

The $337 million Gateway Expressway project involves the construction of a two elevated toll roads. The branch along State Road 686A will run northwest to connect I-275 with St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (PIE) and CR 611 (49th Street N) at the Bayside Bridge. The branch along State Road 690 supersedes CR 296 (Bryan Dairy Road) west from I-275 to U.S. 19 in Pinellas Park.

The new alignment for SR 686A takes the route north from Bryan Dairy Road between 44th Street N and 40th Street N to a SPUI constructed at the west split of SR 686/688 on Ulmerton Road. The Gateway Expressway then overlays Roosevelt Boulevard northward to PIE Airport and the diamond interchange with 49th Street N. The SR 690 portion follows the existing right of way along CR 296 (Bryan Dairy Road) west to U.S. 19, where a new set of flyovers form a wye interchange with U.S. 19 north and from U.S. 19 south.

Five years of construction commenced in Winter 2018.¹ Work preceding the Gateway Expressway project involved upgrading the existing Roosevelt Boulevard interchange with Ulmerton Road near Feather Sound. The 1975-built overpass for SR 686 west onto SR 688 west was replaced as the bridge was at the end of its lifespan. The new span also accommodated widening Ulmerton Road, which was completed west from I-275 to 38th Street N in Spring 2016.²

This 1948 inset of Tampa Bay shows that before Roosevelt Boulevard was built between Ulmerton Road (SR 688) and U.S. 19, State Road 686 followed Ulmerton Road west to then Haines Road north along an L-shaped route.

scenes

Former sign bridge for SR 686 posted along the Airport Parkway exit to St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (PIE). This overhead was replaced by 2015.

11/22/07

The sign replacement for the exit of Airport Parkway to SR 686 (Roosevelt Boulevard) omitted SR 686 and instead directed motorists to I-275 and U.S. 19. This assembly was replaced by 2019.

11/15/16

An arrow-per-lane (APL) overhead was added along Airport Parkway along the loop southward from the passenger terminal at PIE Airport to the relocated exit point due to construction of the Gateway Expressway along SR 686.

12/31/19

SR 686 (Roosevelt Boulevard) links the passenger terminal at PIE Airport with Largo, Clearwater (via CR 611 and U.S. 19 north), and the Gulf beaches. SR 686 east connects with SR 688 to Interstate 275 for Tampa and St. Petersburg.

11/15/16

References:

"Pinellas' 'Gateway Express' road project nears two milestones." The Tampa Tribune (FL), March 4, 2015.
"2 more years of construction ahead for east end of Ulmerton Rd." Bay News 9 (Tampa, FL), March 31, 2014.