Florida State Road 68
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange Avenue | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by FDOT | ||||
| Length: | 4.495 mi[1] (7.234 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end: |
  SR 713 / CR 68 near Fort Pierce | |||
| East end: |
 US 1 in Fort Pierce | |||
| Location | ||||
| Counties: | St. Lucie | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
Known locally as Orange Avenue, State Road 68 (SR 68) is a 4.5-mile-long east–west street in Fort Pierce, Florida. Its current western terminus is an intersection with Kings Highway (SR 713) west of the city limits; the eastern terminus is an intersection with North Fourth Street (US 1-SR 5), just three blocks from Indian River Drive (County Road 707) in downtown Fort Pierce.
Initially a key road in the citrus industry, SR 68 has become an important commuter road serving the residences of central Fort Pierce and an interchange with Interstate 95 (SR 9) 0.3 miles from SR 713. The rural nature of the western end of SR 68 is giving way to urbanization, a trend throughout the Atlantic coast of the State of Florida, as orange groves are gradually being replaced by residential developments.
History
The historic western terminus of State Road 68 is about 42 miles (68 km) west of the current one. Originally, SR 68 extended from Micco Bluff Road west of Basinger near the Kissimmee River, following US 98-SR 700, Northeast 160th Street (present County Road 68), Parrott Avenue (US 441-SR 15), Northeast 224th Street (present County Road 68), and the aptly named Orange Avenue (present County Road 68) to SR 713 as it cuts across the wetlands and the orange groves of central Florida to Fort Pierce. Most of SR 68 was reverted to county control in the mid 1980s.
Major intersections
The entire route is in St. Lucie County.
| Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.000 | 0.000 |   SR 713 (Kings Highway) / CR 68 west (Orange Avenue) to Turnpike – Airport | |||
| 0.31 | 0.50 |  I-95 (SR 9) – Daytona Beach, West Palm Beach | |||
| 1.006 | 1.619 |  CR 611 south (Jenkins Road) | |||
| Fort Pierce | 2.524 | 4.062 |  CR 607A west (Angle Road) | ||
| 3.022 | 4.863 |  SR 615 (M.L. King Jr. Boulevard / 25th Street) | |||
| 4.495 | 7.234 | US 1 (SR 5) – Navy SEAL Museum | |||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
References
- 1 2 FDOT straight line diagrams, accessed February 2014