U.S. 98/State Road 50 West - Ridge Manor to Brooksville

U.S. 98 turns west from McKethan Road to combine with SR 50 (Cortez Boulevard) for an 11.22 mile overlap to Brooksville.

03/26/18

Perry, the long distance destination of U.S. 98 north with U.S. 19 and 27 Alternate, appears on this distance sign at 152 miles out. U.S. 98 travels through Brooksville, Homosassa Springs, Crystal River, Chiefland and other cities along the way.

03/26/18

U.S. 98/SR 50 (Cortez Boulevard) curve northwest from Ridge Manor ahead of the Withlacoochee State Trail.

03/26/18

Spanning the Withlacoochee River, U.S. 98/SR 50 advance west to the Withlacoochee State Trail overpass.

02/09/14

The Withlacoochee State Trail stretches 46 miles north from Trilby in Pasco County to Crystal River, paralleling the river through Hernando County.

03/26/18

Croom Rital Road leads north from U.S. 98/SR 50 at Kettering Road to Withlacoochee State Forest and the Croom Wildlife Management Area. A parking area for the State Trail lies nearby.

03/26/18

Approaching Interstate 75, Cortez Boulevard enters an area of commercial development just south of the Sherman Hills golf course community.

11/11/19

Traffic to I-75 north for Ocala, Gainesville, Lake City and Atlanta, Georgia depart Cortez Boulevard west. Construction through Fall 2019 upgraded the diamond interchange with Interstate 75 into a single point urban interchange (SPUI).

11/11/19

U.S. 98/SR 50 (Cortez Boulevard) pass under Interstate 75 ahead of the southbound entrance ramp to Tampa and St. Petersburg.
Heading south from SR 50, I-75 traverses mostly rural areas in Hernando County before entering increasing suburbia through Pasco County.

11/11/19

The $95 million expansion project for I-75 included widening U.S. 98/SR 50 (Cortez Boulevard) to six lanes from Windmere Road west to La Rose Road.¹

12/13/21

LaRose Road (Forest Road 11) ties into U.S. 98/SR 50 on the west side of I-75. LaRose Road connects Cortez Boulevard with the Croom Motorcycle Area in Withlacoochee State Forest.

12/13/21

U.S. 98/SR 50 overlap another ten miles from I-75 into Brooksville. SR 50 travels west from there 12 more miles to Weeki Wachee and U.S. 19 north of Spring Hill.

12/13/21

CR 541 north and CR 484 south come together at U.S. 98/SR 50 by the Hill 'N Dale community, four miles west of I-75.

03/26/18

County Road 541 follows Spring Lake Highway south to become Pasco County Road 41 en route to Dade City. The community of Spring Lake lies 2.25 miles to the south at CR 572 west.

03/26/18

CR 484 extends 2.25 miles north from U.S. 98/SR 50 along Mondoon Hill Road through ranch land to a westerly turn toward the city of Brooksville.

03/26/18

Advancing six miles toward Downtown Brooksville, U.S. 98/SR 50 (Cortez Boulevard) shift northward between wetland areas west of CR 484/541.

03/26/18

Several signs precede the SR 50 split with SR 50A (Jefferson Street) directing through truck traffic bound for U.S. 98 north to Citrus County around Brooksville.

07/06/20

U.S. 98/SR 50 (Cortez Boulevard) west intersect Griffin Road a half mile east of their split. The truck route for U.S. 98 takes SR 50 west to CR 485 north.

07/06/20

The first sign for SR 50A appears after Griffin Road. SR 50A overlaps with U.S. 98 (and hidden SR 700) to Downtown Brooksville. U.S. 98 travels northward from Brooksville to Crystal River while SR 50 and 50A converge again 3.86 miles to the west.

10/23/19

U.S. 98 north (Jefferson Street) and SR 50 west part ways as Jasmine Drive, an east side bypass route of Brooksville, ties in from the north. SR 50 remains along Cortez Boulevard west for the final 13.73 miles to U.S. 19 at the city of Weeki Wachee.

10/23/19

U.S. 98/SR 50A follow Jefferson Street 1.41 miles north to U.S. 41 (Broad Street), where they combine with U.S. 41 southbound for 0.8 miles through Downtown.

10/23/19

A $4.7 million project underway from September 2017 to late Summer 2018 replaced asphalt at the intersection of U.S. 98, SR 50 and SR 50A to better accommodate heavy truck traffic. Sidewalks were added to both sides of the roadway as well.²

10/23/19