User:DanTD/Sandbox/U.S. Route 19 in Florida
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
U.S. Route 19 in Florida runs along that state's west coast from an interchange with U.S. Route 41 in Memphis, Florida, south of Tampa[1]
US 19 remains independent of I-75, even as the routes converge on Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida. The route is co-signed with US 27 between Capps and Perry, Alternate U.S. 27 between Perry and Chiefland, US 98 between Perry and Chassahowitzka, and Interstate 275 over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, a cable-stayed bridge over the mouth of Tampa Bay.
The secret designation for US 19 in Florida, beteween Perry and Memphis, is State Road 55. Between Perry and Capps, it follows State Road 20, and between Capps and the Georgia border, it follows State Road 57.
Contents |
[edit] Route description
[edit] Manatee to Pinellas Counties
The road begins at an interchange with U.S. Route 41, and remains independent until the interchange with Interstate 275 at Exit 5, where it overlaps I-275 acrosss the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, the terminus of which is at Interstate 275 & Florida State Road 682 at Exit 17.
Florida State Road 694(Gandy & Park Boulevards)
Pinellas CR 611
Pinellas CR 296
Florida State Road 688 shares an interchange with the northern terminus of Florida State Road 693
Florida State Road 60 is the site of the world's first Single-point urban interchange
[edit] Major intersections
| County | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pinellas |  CR 611 (49th Street North) – Pinellas Park |
Interchange |
| South end of freeway | ||
| 110th Avenue North | Interchange under construction; northbound exit is via CR 296 | |
  CR 296 (Bryan Dairy Road) to I-275 |
Interchange under construction | |
| 126th Avenue North | Northbound exit is via CR 296 exit; southbound exit is via SR 688 | |
 SR 688 (Ulmerton Road) to I-275 – Tampa |
||
 SR 693 south (66th Street North) – St. Petersburg Beach |
No northbound exit | |
| 150th Avenue North | No access across US 19; southbound exit is via SR 686 | |
 SR 686 (East Bay Drive, Roosevelt Boulevard) – Largo |
||
| Whitney Road | Northbound exit is via SR 686 | |
| Gap in freeway | ||
 SR 60 (Gulf to Bay Boulevard) – Clearwater, Tampa |
Southbound exit is via Drew Street | |
| Drew Street | ||
 SR 590 (Northeast Coachman Road) |
Southbound exit is via Sunset Point Road | |
| Sunset Point Road | ||
| Gap in freeway | ||
| Countryside Boulevard | Southbound exit is via SR 580 | |
 SR 580 – Dunedin, Oldsmar |
||
| Evans Road | No access across US 19; northbound exit is via SR 580 | |
| North end of freeway | ||
Florida State Road 586(Curlew Road)
Florida State Road 582(East Tarpon Avenue)
Currently, US 19 between Clearwater and Pinellas Park is getting a freeway-style upgrade ([1] [2]), due to the cancellation of an extension of Interstate 375 in the late 1970s.
[edit] Pasco County
According to a Dateline NBC study, part of US 19 in Florida is the most dangerous road in the United States. A Florida Highway Patrol test period beginning in 1998 and ending in 2003, as mandated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, showed the stretch of US 19 from Pasco County to Pinellas County to average approximately 52 deaths a year, or 262 deaths in the 5 year duration of the study. 100 of these deaths were pedestrian related making US 19 the #1 worst road to walk on in these two counties.[2] Multiple efforts to improve US 19 have been suggested to the FDOT, among them, an overpass strictly for left-turn lanes.[3]
When Alternate US 19 terminates at US 19 in Holiday, a de facto extension of the road serves as a brief multiplex with US 19 in Holiday which terminates a block north of the northern terminus of Alternate US 19 in Holiday at Mile Stetch Road(Pasco CR 595).
Main Street(Pasco CR 595) in New Port Richey, although the terminus used to be at Grand Boulevard in Port Richey.
Ridge Road(Pasco CR 524)
Pasco CR 77
After curving from north to northeast, US 19 intersects with Hudson Avenue and Fivay Drive, the latter of which was formerly part of Pasco County Road 1. The northern terminus of Little Road(Pasco CR 1) was built at the turn of the century further north.
Aripeka Road(Pasco CR 595)
Pasco-Hernando County Road 578(County Line Road),
[edit] Hernando County
After the intersection at Pasco-Hernando County Road 578(County Line Road), US 19 continues northbound as a six-lane highway with occasional frontage roads.
Applegate Road near Wendy Drive is only a short distance from Hernando CR 574(Spring Hill Drive) and Hernando CR 595(Osowaw Boulevard) serve as the Gateways to Spring Hill and Hernando Beach, although southbound US 19 travelers can reach CR 595 from Tarpon Boulevard.
Forest Oaks Boulevard.
Hernando County Sheriff's station.
US 19 leaves Spring Hill north of Northcliffe Boulevard, and enters the City of Weeki Wachee. The Weeki Wachee Springs water park is at the intersection of Florida State Road 50 and it's costal spur Hernando County Road 550.
North of Florida State Road 50 US 19 is four-lanes wide, and has a limited number of median openings that contain left-turn lanes. Signs warn motorsits that the region is a Bear Habitat.
Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge
Hernando CR 476
[edit] Citrus County
US 98 joins US 19 in Chassahowitzka, where Florida State Road 700 ends. Citrus County Road 480 also shares this intersection, and overlaps US 98 before branching out on its own towards Floral City.
Within Homossassa Springs, the division temporarily ends as it overlaps Citrus County Road 490. Citrus CR 490A terminates at the three-route concurrency with US 19-98-CCR 490. Less than 1/2 mile north of CCR 490 the road becomes divided again. North of Homossassa Springs US 19-98 serves as the location of a series of car dealerships, local garages, a Moose Lodge, churches and the intersection of Ozello Trail(Citrus CR 494).
As the road approach Crystal River Airport, one truly begins to feel that he or she has entered the City of Crystal River.
Citrus County Road 44W, US 19-98 becomes a six-lane divided boulevard. The division of this highway ends again, just south of the intersection of Florida State Road 44
Citrus County Road 495(North Citrus Avenue)
US 19-98 curves back north and becomes a divided highway once again as it apporaches Crystal River Mall
Crystal River Nuclear Power Plant
Citrus County Road 488.
The Cross Florida Barge Canal is the only section of US 19 that is two lanes wide in Citrus County. That may change when the Suncoast Parkway is extended to Red Level.
[edit] Levy County to Dixie County
US 19-98 crosses the Withlacoochee River and immedialtey enters Levy County and the city of Inglis, where it intersects with Levy County Road 40. West of US 19-98, LCR 40 is named "Follow That Dream Boulevard" for the 1962 movie starring Elvis Presley. Shortly after this, the road intersects Levy CR 40A. North of Inglis, US 19-98 runs along sparse residences, trailer parks, a Florida Sheriff's Youth Facility, the Gulf Hammock Wildlife Management Area and eventually Goethe State Forest. Within the forest, the road crosses the Ten Mile Creek bridge before reaching an at-grade interchange with Florida State Road 121 & Levy County Road 336 in Lebanon Junction. From there, US 19-98 runs along an abandoned railroad line along the east side, while the median is widened and lined with the trees that existed before the road was ever built. This section also secretly overlaps Levy CR 336. At the intersection of Levy County Road 326 in Gulf Hammock, an old locomotive and caboose is on display. Blinking signals exist over the intersection with Florida State Road 24 in Otter Creek, but the overlap with Levy CR 336 leaves just before the signal.
Alternate US 27 joins US 19-98 in Cheifland where Florida State Road 500 ends. This intersection was transformed into a 90-degree intersection, which directly faces a local high school. Almost instantly US 19-98-Alt 27 encounters the intersection of US 129.
Florida State Road 26 in Fanning Springs
Joe H. Anderson Sr. Bridge over the Suwanee River
Dixie County Road 55A.
Florida State Road 349 in Old Town
Dixie CR 351 in Cross City, where a Truck Weight station exists in the median.
[edit] Taylor County
Alternate US 27 terminates at US 27, which replaces it as an overlapping US route as US 98 heads west along Florida State Road 30.
[edit] Madison County to Georgia State Line
US 27 leaves US 19 in Capps along with SR 20, on its way through Tallahassee. From this point on, Florida State Road 57 is the secret designation, and the road is known as the Florida-Georgia Parkway.
Interstate 10 at Exit 225 in Drifton.
US 90(SR 10) in Monticello
CR 149
US 19 finally crosses the Georgia state line where Florida SR 57 ends and Georgia SRs 3 and 300 begin, the former of which is the secret state route for US 19 into Atlanta, while the latter of which is the secret state route for US 19 from there to Albany, Georgia.
[edit] References
- ^ Endpoints of US highways
- ^ MSNBC report on America's deadliest roads. MSNBC (June 7, 2005). Retrieved on 2007-04-21.
- ^ [Suncoast News; Taking the High Road by Carl Orth; August 4, 2001]
 U.S. Route 19 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Previous state: Terminus |
Florida | Next state: Georgia |
