Florida State Road 78

State Road 78 marker

State Road 78
Route information
Maintained by FDOT
Length: 72.017 mi[1] (115.900 km)
Section 1
Length: 19 mi (31 km)
West end: CR 765 / CR 884 in Cape Coral
East end: SR 31 near Fort Myers Shores
Section 2
Length: 15 mi[1] (24 km)
West end: SR 29 near LaBelle
East end: US 27 near Moore Haven
Section 3
Length: 34 mi[1] (55 km)
South end: US 27 near Moore Haven
North end: US 98 in Okeechobee
Highway system
SR 77SR 79

State Road 78 (SR 78) is the Florida Department of Transportation designation of the highway that historically extended from Pine Island Center on the Gulf Coast of Florida to the northern tip of Lake Okeechobee. In the 1980s, two segments of the route were removed from state maintenance to county maintenance (and the road designations were changed to reflect the action). More recently, SR 78 signs were removed from the four-mile-long stretch of US 27/SR 25 that was once a concurrency. All three sections are signed eastwest, even though the easternmost section is actually a northsouth route.

Route description

Western section

The current western terminus of the westernmost piece of SR 78 is in northwest Cape Coral at an intersection with CR 884 (Veteran's Parkway) to the south and CR 765 (Burnt Store Road) to the north. Known as Pine Island Road, it travels east from its terminus through northern Cape Coral toward North Fort Myers, Florida, where it intersects U.S. Highway 41. SR 78 becomes Bayshore Road in North Fort Myers at its intersection with U.S. 41's Business Route (which is part of an earlier alignment of the Tamiami Trail). Bayshore Road continues east paralleling the north shore of the Caloosahatchee River. It intersects with Interstate 75 shortly before terminating at State Road 31 near the Lee County Civic Center.

Central section

The 14-mile-long central eastwest section of SR 78 extends from SR 29 four miles (6 km) northeast of North LaBelle to an intersection with US 27/SR 25 midway between Citrus Center and Moore Haven. In between is the town of Ortona. The central section of SR 78 is entirely within a part of Glades County dedicated to the growth of foliage house plants.

Okeechobee (eastern) section

The 34-mile-long easternmost section of State Road 78 (SR 78) is signed eastwest, even though the bulk of the road is northsouth. This stretch follows the western and northern edge of the Lake Okeechobee wetlands. The southern (“western”) terminus of this segment is an intersection with US 27/SR 25 near Moore Haven. Motorists driving “east” (actually north) on SR 78, travel through Sportsman Village before visiting the Brighton Seminole Indian Reservation and Buckhead Ridge before reaching the northern (“eastern”) terminus, an intersection with US 98 (SR 700)-US 441 (SR 15) near Eagle Bay in the northern tip of Lake Okeechobee, roughly three miles to the south of Okeechobee.

History

County Road 78
Location: Pine Island Center-Cape Coral, North Fort Myers-Alva
Existed: 1980–present

In the late 1970s, FDOT started to put into motion a sequence of events that ultimately resulted in the removal of dozens of miles of roadway from the State maintenance list to county maintenance. Entire State Roads disappeared as their FDOT designations were replaced by County Road signage, while other State Roads had only parts become County Roads (usually with no change in the numbering).

In the 1970s, State Road 78 extended from Pine Island Center, near Pine Island Sound on the Gulf Coast to the northernmost part of Lake Okeechobee. In the 1980s, two sections were transitioned to county maintenance:

CR 78A

County Road 78A
Location: Cape Coral-North Fort Myers
Length: 3.6 mi[2] (5.79 km)
Existed: 1980–present

County Road 78A is a spur road off of State Road 78 between Cape Coral and North Fort Myers locally known as Pondella Road. It provides a quicker way for motorists traveling east on CR 78 to access Downtown Fort Myers. The road was known as SR 78A before 1980.

Major intersections

CountyLocationmi[1][3]kmDestinationsNotes
LeePine Island Center0.0000.000 CR 767 (Stringfellow Road) St. James, BokeeliaWestern terminus of CR 78
Matlacha3.5005.633Matlacha Bridge over Matlacha Pass
Cape Coral5.4678.798 CR 765 north (Burnt Store Road) / CR 884 east (Veterans Parkway)CR 78 becomes SR 78
12.06119.410 CR 867A (Del Prado Boulevard)
12.36119.893 CR 78A east (Pondella Road)
North Fort Myers14.74123.723 US 41 (North Cleveland Avenue / SR 45)
15.85825.521
US 41 Bus. (North Tamiami Trail / SR 739) Punta Gorda, Fort Myers
Bayshore21.1233.99 I-75 (SR 93) Tampa, Naples
 24.404
0.00
39.274
0.00
SR 31 to SR 80SR 78 becomes CR 78
Alva10.2016.42Broadway StreetTo SR 80
Hendry 18.3029.45Fort Denaud Bridge Way (CR 78A west)
 23.5037.82
Old CR 78 east to SR 29 south LaBelle
Glades 24.20
0.000
38.95
0.000
SR 29 Palmdale, LaBelleCR 78 becomes SR 78
Ortona5.9339.548 CR 78A south (Ortona Road)
 14.85823.912 US 27 north (SR 25) PalmdaleWestern terminus of concurrency with US 27
 18.83930.318 US 27 south (SR 25) Moore HavenEastern terminus of concurrency with US 27
Lakeport28.58946.010 CR 74 west (Old Lakeport Road)
 29.55647.566 CR 721 north
 31.65150.937 CR 721 south
 32.10451.666 CR 721 north Seminole Reservation
Buckhead Ridge45.96773.977 CR 78B south (Access Road)
Kissimmee River48.3677.83Bridge
Okeechobee 53.08085.424 US 98 (SR 15) / US 441 (SR 700) West Palm Beach, OkeechobeeEastern terminus of SR 78
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 FDOT straight line diagrams, accessed February 2014
  2. Google (February 2, 2014). "CR 78A" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  3. Google Maps distance

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, March 19, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.