State Route 84 and 85 in Florida

Florida State Route 84

According to toppharmacyschools.org, State Route 84 or State Road 84 (SR-84) is a state route in the U.S. state of Florida. The road forms an east-west route through southern Florida and consists of two widely spaced sections, a six-mile west section near Naples and a 20-mile eastern section between Weston and Fort Lauderdale in the Miami suburbs . State Road 84 is 42 kilometers long in total.

Travel directions

Naples

State Road 84 forms a 2×2 to 2×3 lane urban arterial in Naples. The road runs between US 41 and Interstate 75. The entire route is in suburban area.

Weston – Fort Lauderdale

The section between Naples and Weston is formed by Interstate 75 through the Everglades. This part is 125 kilometers long. State Road 84 begins again in Miami ‘s large suburb of Weston at the junction with Glades Parkway. The road initially forms the frontage roads of I-75 and Interstate 595. The road has two to three lanes in each direction and is located next to the New River, a canalized river. East of the huge interchange with US 441, State Road 84 branches off from I-595 and forms an urban arterial with 2×3 and partly even 2×4 lanes, this is Marina Mile Boulevard through Fort Lauderdale. The road then ends at an intersection with US 1.

History

State Road 84 was created with the 1945 renumbering, where it became an east-west route on the Florida grid. At the time, the road only ran between US 27 and US 1 near Fort Lauderdale, the area was not yet suburbanized at the time. The Everglades Parkway (Alligator Alley) through the Everglades between US 41 in Naples and US 27 at Weston was completed in 1969 and was subsequently renumbered State Road 84. State Road 84 was 163 kilometers long at that time and ran from US 41 in Naples to US 1 in Fort Lauderdale.

In the 1970s, the eastern portion of State Road 84 between US 27 in Weston and Fort Lauderdale was widened to a 2×2 divided highway. This stretch was significantly reconstructed in the 1980s with the construction of Interstate 595, with State Road 84 becoming the frontage road of I-595 here. In the early 1990s, Alligator Alley was widened to 2×2 lanes through the Everglades between Naples and Weston and has been numbered Interstate 75 since 1993. The State Road 84 has since been divided into two separate parts that are approximately 125 kilometers apart.

Traffic intensities

15,000 to 30,000 vehicles drive through Naples daily between US 41 and I-75. The frontage roads of I-575 between Weston and Fort Lauderdale use between 7,000 and 15,000 vehicles in each direction. Marina Mile Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale is a very busy road with 40,000 to 60,000 vehicles per day.

Florida State Route 85

State Route 85 or State Road 85 (SR-85) is a state route in the U.S. state of Florida. The road forms a north-south route in the Florida Panhandle, from Fort Walton Beach on the Gulf of Mexico to the Alabama border at Florala. State Road 85 is 91 kilometers long.

Travel directions

State Road 85 near Eglin Air Force Base.

State Road 85 begins in the town of Fort Walton Beach on US 98, not far from the Gulf of Mexico. The road heads north and is a 2×2 lane urban arterial through Fort Walton Beach, Ocean City and Shalimar. The road then forms a semi-level grade 2×2 divided highway around Eglin Air Force Base. One then first reaches Valparaiso and then Niceville, where there is a connection with the State Road 20.

From Niceville the road continues inland as a 2×2 divided highway through a forest area and air force area. The road here is semi-grade. Further north, one reaches an urbanized area around Crestview. This is an important urban arterial where almost all commercial activities are. There is a connection to Interstate 10 and the US 90 crosses in the center of Crestview. The road then has a further 2×2 lanes and then narrows to a single carriageway, which continues to the Alabama border just before Florala.

History

State Road 85 was created in 1945 during the renumbering of the state roads in Florida, where a grid was created in which State Road 85 forms a primary north-south route.

Much of the road has been widened to 2×2 lanes. This was primarily the outcrop of Eglin Air Force Base, a massive air force base developed during World War II in the Choctawhatchee National Forest. As early as the 1950s, the southernmost section of the road between Fort Walton Beach and Niceville was widened to 2×2 lanes. Shortly afterwards, a diversion was also realized near Elgin Air Force Base. In the early to mid-1970s, the road was also widened to 2×2 lanes between Niceville and Crestview. In the late 1970s, the Elgin Air Force Base bypass was also widened to 2×2 lanes.

Later, a number of split-level connections were constructed. A grade-separated intersection with State Road 123 on the north side of Eglin Air Force Base was constructed between 2010 and 2012. This is a through traffic shortcut between Fort Walton Beach and I-10 at Crestview. In 2014, a grade separated junction with State Road 293 opened around Niceville. A grade-separated connection at Duke Field was also constructed in 2012.

Traffic intensities

Every day, 40,000 to 50,000 vehicles drive through Fort Walton Beach, 30,000 to 40,000 vehicles on the Elgin Air Force Base bypass, 18,000 vehicles on the north side of Niceville, and 40,000 vehicles between SR-123 and Crestview. After that, 40,000 to 46,000 vehicles drive through Crestview, which north of Crestview quickly drops to less than 10,000 vehicles per day, with only 3,000 vehicles per day on the Alabama border.