Interstate 75 South - Manatee County

Back to back interchanges join I-75 with Moccasin-Wallow Road at Exit 229 and I-275 at Exit 228. Moccasin-Wallow Road (CR 683) connects U.S. 41 to the west with the community of Parrish and U.S. 301 to the east. Unmarked beyond guide signs on I-75, CR 683 east indirectly connects with SR 62 via U.S. 301 south.

08/28/18

Entering the diamond interchange (Exit 229) with CR 683 (Moccasin-Wallow Road) on I-75 south. CR 683 forms an L-shaped route, measuring 11.8 miles from U.S. 301 and 36th Avenue E in Ellenton to U.S. 301 at Parrish. The western 0.75 miles of Moccassin-Wallow Road to Gillette is unmarked CR 675.

08/28/18

Interstate 275 concludes the 60.64 mile long loop through Tampa and St. Petersburg at a three-wye interchange (Exit 228) with I-75 in one mile.

10/17/23

I-275 returns to I-75 via the tolled Sunshine Skyway Bridge from St. Petersburg and Pinellas County. Moving about nine million tons of cargo annually as the closest deep water seaport to the Panama Canal, Port Manatee represents an important transportation link for Florida's shipping industry. The facility lies three miles north of I-275 off U.S. 41 at Gillette

08/28/18

Downtown St. Petersburg lies 23 miles to the northwest via Interstate 275. The urban freeway winds through the city en route to Pinellas Park, Largo and the Howard Frankland Bridge across Old Tampa Bay.

10/17/23

A single lane ramp departs I-75 south for I-275 north at Exit 228. The freeway initially leads west to Terra Ceia before turning north onto the Sunshine Skyway bridge across Tampa Bay.
Historically I-275 was the initial route of I-75 while the freeway east of Tampa Bay was designated I-75E. I-75E was renumbered as I-75 by the mid 1970s.

10/17/23

A high speed flyover links I-275 south with I-75 north beyond this reassurance marker. This ramp closed in July 2018 for an $8 million, 10 month long concrete bridge deck replacement project.¹

06/11/21

With the advent of traffic from Interstate 275 south, 2018 counts recorded by FDOT along I-75 south increased from 80,500 vehicles per day (vpd) to 100,500 vpd. 79,000 vpd was recorded on this stretch in 2014. Advancing southward toward Ellenton, the freeway next meets U.S. 301 at a folded diamond interchange (Exit 224).

05/18/19

U.S. 301 meets I-75 for the third and final time southwest from Parrish. Measuring just shy of 1,100 miles, U.S. 301 originates at Biddles Corner, Delaware and ends at U.S. 41 in Downtown Sarasota.

05/18/19

Interstate 75 south reaches Exit 224 for U.S. 301 (Exit 224). Exit 224 serves the adjacent Prime Outlets at Ellenton, which house a tourist information center.

07/02/11

The guide sign at Exit 224 was knocked down in Summer 2018 and finally replaced after January 2019. $145 million in construction underway from late 2021 to early 2025 rebuilds this exchange into a tight diamond interchange, with additional lanes along I-75 and provisions for tolled Express lanes.²

06/11/21

Both Ellenton and Palmetto lie to the west of Exit 224. Ellenton is home to Gamble Plantation Historic State Park--a one time site of an extensive sugar plantation and the only surviving plantation house in south Florida. Palmetto is a city of over 12,000 along the north banks of the Manatee River.

04/15/22

U.S. 301 follows the course of the Manatee River west 3.5 miles to combine with U.S. 41 south across the DeSoto Bridge into Bradenton. A short stretch of former alignment parallels the six lane arterial just to the south at I-75.

06/11/21

The Manatee River begins in the northeast corner of the Manatee County and flows approximately 36 miles westward to end at the Gulf of Mexico west of Bradenton.

05/18/19

Curving to the southeast from the Manatee River by Tom Bennett Park, Interstate 75 advances to Exit 220 for SR 64.

05/18/19

Heading east from I-75, SR 64 passes through northern reaches of the upscale Lakewood Ranch community before transitioning into a rural two lane highway en route to Bradenton Motorsports Park, Lake Manatee State Park, Myakka Head and Hardee County.

08/28/18

State Road 64 extends from Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island east through Downtown Bradenton to Zolfo Springs, south of Wauchula, and Avon Park.

05/18/19

Construction from June 2017 to Fall 2019 at Exit 220 removed the loop ramp from I-75 north to SR 64 west, upgraded bridges at the exchange and rebuilt the entrance and exit ramps. The $39.1 million project³ accommodates the planned ten lane expansion of I-75 with Express toll lanes.

06/11/21

05/18/19

SR 64 was widened from four to six lanes in 2012-2014 west between I-75 and the causeway across the Braden River.

05/18/19

The stretch along I-75 between SR 64 and Williams Creek offers a brief reprieve from suburban development. A 30 month long project commenced in Fall 2018 to widen 6.75 miles of I-75 southward from SR 64 to a point north of University Parkway.⁴

04/15/22

SR 70 meets I-75 at Exit 217 two miles ahead by Lakewood Ranch. Straddling the Sarasota-Manatee county line across I-75, University Parkway follows in six miles. Travelers continuing through Southwest Florida reach Naples in 120 miles.

04/15/22

Turning southward from Williams Creek, I-75 converges with SR 70 at a parclo interchange (Exit 217) in 1.25 miles. SR 70 stretches from U.S. 41 at Oneco east across the Florida Peninsula to U.S. 1 in Fort Pierce.
An unsigned branch of SR 70 (15th Street) also connects with Bradenton as well. The 3.03 mile leg stems north from CR 683 (301 Boulevard) to Samoset and SR 64 (Manatee Avenue).

04/15/22

The $80.7 million project underway from October 2018 to Fall 2021 Spring 2022 expanded I-75 along a 6.75 mile stretch to eight lanes and reconfigured the exchange with SR 70.

04/15/22

SR 70 joins I-75 with Lakewood Ranch nearby and the DeSoto County seat of Arcadia in 41 miles. SR 70 constitutes a six lane urban arterial west along 53rd Avenue E to Oneco and U.S. 41 (14th Street W). U.S. 41 leads north to Bradenton and south to Sarasota.

04/15/22

I-75 runs between The Preserve at Tara golf course community to the west and the Ranch Lake Boulevard frontage road to the east. 130,500 vehicles per day (vpd) were recorded by FDOT along this stretch of I-75 in 2018 and 140,000 vpd in 2021. Counts increase to 141,500 south of forthcoming University Boulevard.

04/15/22

Fort Myers appears on I-75 southbound distance signs at 81 miles out. The Collier County seat of Naples is 116 miles away.

04/15/22

I-75 spans the Braden River south of the Linger Lodge Road over crossing. Construction widened the six lane freeway with auxiliary lanes in both directions between SR 70 and University Parkway. Future work will add two Express toll lanes per direction.⁴

06/17/14

I-75 meets University Parkway (unsigned County Road 610) at Exit 213 in 1.25 miles. University Parkway connects the freeway with Lakewood Ranch to the east and with the Mall at University Town Center opened in 2014, and U.S. 41 (Tamiami Trail) in Sarasota to the west.

07/07/17

Both the New College of Florida and USF Sarasota-Manatee County campuses are located near the west end of University Parkway off Sarasota Bay.

04/05/14

22 months of construction completed on May 21, 2017 reconfigured Exit 213 into Florida's first diverging diamond interchange (DDI).⁵ University Parkway is a busy six lane commercial arterial west to U.S. 301, Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) and U.S. 41 (Tamiami Trail) in north Sarasota.

04/15/22

The conversion of Exit 213 to a DDI addressed increasing traffic congestion along University Parkway following associated commercial and residential growth. A portion of University Parkway, between Washington Boulevard and 15th Street East, doubled as U.S. 301 until the mid 1980s.

04/15/22

The $74.5 million project at Exit 213⁵ also expanded the University Parkway off-ramp to three lanes west to nearby retail areas and two lanes east to Lakewood Ranch. Though acknowledged on I-75 guide signs, the 6.95 mile long route of CR 610 along University Parkway is unmarked.

05/18/18

Interstate 75 enters Sarasota County at the apex of University Parkway interchange. The freeway travels through the county for the next 42.62 miles. Palm trees were planted in the freeway median here in 2019 and mostly removed in 2021.

05/18/19