Route information | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Maintained by FDOT | ||||
Length | 41.582 mi [1] (66.920 km) | |||
Major junctions | ||||
West end | US 41 near Sarasota I-75 near Sarasota | |||
East end | SR 70 near Arcadia | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Florida | |||
Counties | Sarasota, DeSoto | |||
Highway system | ||||
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State Road 72 (SR 72) is a state highway in DeSoto and Sarasota County, Florida. It is the most direct route to Siesta Key when traveling west on SR 70 from Arcadia and Fort Pierce.
The western terminus is at an intersection with U.S. Route 41. The road is six lanes wide from US 41 to the Interstate 75 interchange. Immediately east of Interstate 75, the road transforms from 6 lanes wide to 2 lanes wide. It crosses the Myakka River and provides access to Myakka River State Park. A block west of the eastern terminus is CR 661, an alternative of U.S. Route 17 and provides access to State Road 60 (via SR 37). Its eastern terminus is at an intersection of SR 70 near Arcadia.
Prior to 2020, SR 72 continued a mile west of US 41 to Siesta Key. This segment was transferred to county control and is now County Road 72 (CR 72).
SR 72 begins at an intersection with US 41/SR 45. SR 72 is known as Stickney Point Road and it passes homes and businesses as a seven-lane road with a center left-turn lane, curving east onto Clark Road at the Swift Road intersection. The road continues through developed areas, crossing South Lockwood Ridge Road, CR 773 (Beneva Road), and Sawyer Road. The state road becomes a six-lane divided highway and intersects McIntosh Road as it crosses the Legacy Trail, where the former Seminole Gulf Railway line existed. SR 72 passes more businesses and intersects Sawyer Loop Road, Honore Avenue, and Gantt Road before coming to an interchange with I-75/SR 93 near Bee Ridge. [1] [2]
Past this interchange, the state road narrows to four lanes before becoming a two-lane undivided road as it heads through residential areas, passing to the north of Twin Lakes Park. The road turns to the southeast and heads into a mix of wooded neighborhoods and fields, becoming an unnamed road. SR 72 curves east again and runs through rural areas of woods and swamps. The road enters Myakka River State Park and turns southeast. The state road continues through wooded swamps within the state park, heading east again. SR 72 leaves Myakka River State Park and passes through areas of fields and trees. The road crosses into DeSoto County and continues through rural areas for several more miles, intersecting CR 769. SR 72 turns northeast and passes through farmland and trees with some homes, intersecting CR 661 before ending at an intersection with SR 70 to the west of Arcadia. [1] [2]
Prior to 1945, SR 72 was designated SR 220 from the Sarasota area to Arcadia. After the 1945 Florida state road renumbering, it was designated SR 72. At this point, SR 72 entered the Sarasota area along present-day Proctor Road, then turned north along Sawyer Road, then back west along present-day Bee Ridge Road and terminated at US 41 (Tamiami Trail). At the same time, Stickney Point Road and Clark Road from Siesta Key to a point near the current Interstate 75 interchange were designated as SR 782. From here, SR 782 turned south and east along present-day Hawkins Road to SR 72. [3] By 1957, Clark Road was extended east to SR 72, and SR 72 was rerouted along Clark Road and Stickney Point Road as it is today. The previous route along Proctor Road became SR 72A, and Bee Ridge Road later became SR 758. [4] The SR 782 designation was later reused for Linton Boulevard in Delray Beach. [5]
The four-lane bascule bridge carrying Stickney Point Road to Siesta Key was built in 1968. [6] It replaced a bridge built in 1927. [7]
In 2018, Sarasota County accepted the state's $40 million offer to swap responsibility for several roads (i.e. road swap) in exchange for the state to perform major improvements on River Road, one of the county's main thoroughfares and vital evacuation routes. [8] One of the roads as part of the swap was SR 72 from Midnight Pass Road to US 41. The road transfer was completed in September 2020. The state continues to maintain the Siesta Key bridges. [9]
In May 2024, SR 72's interchange with Interstate 75 was upgraded to a diverging diamond interchange. [10]
Stickney Point is named for Ben Stickney, an early resident of Siesta Key who owned a house just south of the bridge. [11]
County | Location | mi [1] [12] | km | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sarasota | | 0.000 | 0.000 | US 41 (Tamiami Trail South / SR 45) – Sarasota, Venice | Southern/western terminus |
| 1.803 | 2.902 | Beneva Road (CR 773) | ||
| 4.802 | 7.728 | I-75 (SR 93) – Tampa, St. Petersburg, Naples | I-75 exit 205 | |
| 6.516 | 10.486 | Proctor Road (CR 72A west) | ||
| 7.967 | 12.822 | Lorraine Road (formerly Bee Ridge Extension) | ||
DeSoto | | 36.701 | 59.065 | CR 769 south – Port Charlotte | |
| 40.731 | 65.550 | CR 661 south | ||
| 41.582 | 66.920 | SR 70 – Bradenton, Arcadia | Eastern terminus | |
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |
Location | South Sarasota-Proctor |
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County Road 72A (CR 72A) is a west-to-east suffixed alternate of SR 72. The road is called Proctor Road and much of it is four lanes wide. It begins as a four-lane undivided highway at US 41 and does not become a divided highway until it reaches the Sarasota County Technical Institute. At McIntosh Road, it narrows to a two-lane undivided highway. At Honore Avenue, it widens to a four-lane divided highway. After the intersection of Cattleman Road and Grove Point Boulevard, the road narrows down to a two-lane undivided highway before crossing over I-75 with no access, then returns to ground level after a power sub-station on the northeast corner of the overpass. After the intersection of a one-lane dead-end street named Falcon Place, it curves to the southeast where it will eventually meet up with its parent route at a signalized intersection with Dove Avenue. A former right of way of the road can be seen on the northeast corner of the terminus.
CR 72A was the original alignment of SR 72 prior to the 1950s. [3]
State Road 80 is a 123.5 miles (198.8 km) route linking US 41 Business in Fort Myers and State Road A1A in Palm Beach. The road is the northernmost of three linking Southwest Florida to South Florida via the Everglades. Due to increasing traffic, State Road 80 has experienced upgrades and widening in various sections since 2000.
State Road 777 and County Road 777 are together a 13.5-mile-long (21.7 km) route near Englewood and North Port, Florida, United States. The route is locally known as East Dearborn Street in Englewood and River Road from Englewood north to Interstate 75 (I-75). The route is county controlled south of the Tamiami Trail, and is SR 777 from there north to I-75.
Stretching 148 miles (238 km) across the Florida peninsula, State Road 70 spans five Florida counties and straddles the northern boundaries of two more. Its western terminus is at US 41 south of Bradenton ; its eastern terminus is an intersection of Virginia Avenue and South Fourth Street in Fort Pierce.
State Road 44 is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of Florida. It runs from Crystal River on the Gulf of Mexico east to New Smyrna Beach on the Atlantic Ocean, passing through Inverness, Wildwood, Leesburg and DeLand.
State Road 884, along with County Road 884, together create Lee County, Florida's primary east–west partially controlled access highway, linking Cape Coral in the western portion of the county to Lehigh Acres and Alva in the eastern portion. Currently, the highway consists of State Road 884, and two segments of County Road 884 on each end, and the entire highway is about 37.5 miles (60.4 km) long. The highway runs through the southern incorporated limits of the city of Fort Myers and through the mid part of Cape Coral, and has become a major commuter route.
State Road 865 and County Road 865 are a series of roads serving Lee County, Florida. Originally a continuous state road extending from Bonita Springs to Tice by way of Fort Myers Beach and Fort Myers, SR 865 now consists of two segments connected by a part of CR 865, which also extends to the north and south of the state segments. Both the state and county controlled segments of the route combined stretch a distance of over 40 miles (64.37 km), making it the longest designation in Lee County.
State Road 776 (SR 776) is a 25-mile-long (40 km) state highway serving southern Sarasota County and northwestern Charlotte County, Florida. It acts as a loop road of U.S. Route 41 (US 41) that bypasses North Port.
State Road 758 and County Road 758 are together an 11.2-mile-long (18.0 km) state road in Sarasota, Florida, United States. It runs from Siesta Key north and east to Sarasota, where it continues east through Bee Ridge. Its eastern terminus is at Interstate 75 where it continues east as a county road with no designation. The full route was previously SR 758.
State Road 789 is a 17.5-mile-long road along the Florida’s Gulf Coast that spans Bird Key, St. Armands Key, and Lido Key, in Sarasota; Longboat Key ; and Anna Maria Island. The southern terminus is the intersection of the John Ringling Causeway and Tamiami Trail in Sarasota; the northern terminus is the intersection of Gulf Drive, North and Manatee Avenue., West in Holmes Beach. Much of the northernmost five miles (8 km) has been designated Bradenton Beach Scenic Highway.
State Road 780, known as Fruitville Road, is a 5-mile-long (8.0 km) east–west street in Sarasota, Florida. The western terminus is an intersection with US 301/SR 683. The eastern terminus is east of an interchange with Interstate 75 in Fruitville, where the road continues east as County Road 780. West of US 301, Fruitville Road extends one mile (1.6 km) west of the end of SR 780, ending at an intersection with the Tamiami Trail in Downtown Sarasota.
U.S. Highway 27 (US 27) in Florida is a north–south United States Numbered Highway. It runs 496.352 miles (798.801 km) from the Miami metropolitan area northwest to the Tallahassee metropolitan area. Throughout the state, US 27 has been designated the Claude Pepper Memorial Highway by the Florida Legislature. It was named after long-time Florida statesperson Claude Pepper, who served in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. The stretch running from Miami to South Bay was originally designated the Thomas E. Will Memorial Highway by the Florida Legislature in 1937 when that portion was known as State Road 26 (SR 26). Thomas E. Will, the founder of Okeelanta, had worked for almost 20 years to get the state to build a road from Miami to the area south of Lake Okeechobee. For most of its length in the state, US 27 is a divided highway.
U.S. Highway 41 (US 41) in the state of Florida is a north–south United States Highway. It runs 479 miles (771 km) from Miami in South Florida northwest to the Georgia state line north of the Lake City area. Within the state, US 41 is paralleled by Interstate 75 (I-75) all the way from Miami to Georgia, and I-75 has largely supplanted US 41 as a major highway.
U.S. Route 301 in Florida runs from the Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area northeast to the Greater Jacksonville Metropolitan Area. The road is a spur of U.S. Route 1, which it intersects in Callahan.
State Road 64 extends from City Road 789 near the Gulf of Mexico in Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island in Manatee County to US 27/US 98 in Avon Park in Highlands County. State Road 64 travels from west to east through the counties of Manatee, Hardee and Highlands.
State Road 574 is an east–west state highway in Central Hillsborough County, Florida. It runs from northwestern Tampa to Plant City, and parallels County Road 574 west of Mango.
County Road 876 is a major county road in Lee County, Florida spanning 22.92 miles (36.89 km). It is major east-west thoroughfare just south of Fort Myers city limits before becoming a north-south route through Lehigh Acres and Buckingham. The east-west portion is locally known as Cypress Lake Drive west of U.S. Route 41 and Daniels Parkway east of there. The north-south segment is known as Gunnery Road through Lehigh Acres and Buckingham Road through Buckingham.
County Road 610 (CR 610), locally known as University Parkway, is a seven-mile-long (11 km) county route in Sarasota County and Manatee County, Florida. It is a major commuter route from U.S. Highway 41 (US 41) to Interstate 75 (I-75) and it is the primary access road for Sarasota–Bradenton International Airport.