Florida State Road 31

State Road 31
Route information
Maintained by FDOT
Length:	36.357 mi[1] (58.511 km)
Existed:	1945 – present
Major junctions
South end:	SR 80 near Fort Myers Shores
North end:	SR 70 near Arcadia
Highway system
Florida State Highway System Interstate US SR Former Pre-1945 Toll ← SR 30E SR 33 →

State Road 31 (SR 31) is a state highway in Southwest Florida in Lee, Charlotte, and DeSoto counties. It is about 36 miles (58 kilometers) long. The entire roadway is two lanes wide, even near Fort Myers. The highway crosses the Caloosahatchee River via the Wilson Pigott Bridge, a small drawbridge, a mile north of the southern terminus. The northern terminus is with an intersection of SR 70 near Arcadia. The southern terminus is with an intersection of SR 80 near Fort Myers Shores. The route is home to G. Pierce Wood Memorial Hospital, replacing the old De Soto Aircraft Field.

In 2006, Cameratta Properties purchased 5,860 acres (24 km²) of land along SR 31 in DeSoto County for a master-planned community that upon completion will add approximately 17,000 homes and 500,000 square feet (50,000 m²) of retail and office space.

In 2006, DeSoto County announced that the county will build a new wastewater treatment facility along SR 31 to accommodate the future demand for residential housing anticipated along the SR 31 Corridor.

History

Originally designated State Road 2, the route was redesignated State Road 31 in 1945 as part of a state-wide renumbering.^[2][3]

Prior to the construction of the Wilson Pigott Bridge in 1960, State Road 31 crossed the Caloosahatchee River about three miles farther east of the current bridge. Just north of Fort Myers Shores, it travelled east along North River Road (then-State Road 78) and crossed the river on a swing bridge into Olga, where it continued to State Road 80 along what is today Old Olga Road.^[4] The current route south of North River Road carried State Road 78 at the time.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Lee		0.000	0.000	SR 80 (Palm Beach Boulevard) – LaBelle, Fort Myers
	Caloosahatchee River (Okeechobee Waterway)	1.04	1.67	Wilson Pigott Bridge
		1.407	2.264	SR 78 west (Bayshore Road) – Lee Civic Center
		2.670	4.297	CR 78 east (North River Road) – Caloosahatchee Regional Park, W.P. Franklin Campground
Charlotte	Bermont	16.990	27.343	CR 74 – Palmdale, Punta Gorda
DeSoto		25.541	41.104	CR 763 west
		31.893	51.327	CR 760A west
		34.102	54.882	CR 760 east
		36.357	58.511	SR 70 – Arcadia, Okeechobee
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

1. FDOT straight line diagrams, accessed February 2014
2. "Lee Middle, 1936". Florida Center for Instructional Technology. University of South Florida. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
3. "East Desoto, 1936". Florida Center for Instructional Technology. University of South Florida. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
4. "North Olga Community Plan" (PDF). Lee County, Florida. Retrieved 15 November 2015.