Florida State Road 82
- For a street in Fort Lauderdale, Florida that was once designated State Road 82, see Florida State Road 736.
 State Road 82 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by FDOT | ||||
| Length | 29.884 mi[1] (48.094 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |   US 41 / SR 867 in Fort Myers | |||
 I-75 in Fort Myers | ||||
| East end |  SR 29 near Immokalee | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Florida | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
State Road 82 (SR 82) is a 29-mile-long east–west highway serving northern Lee and Collier County, Florida (and "clipping" the southwest corner of Hendry County). The western terminus is an intersection with Cleveland Avenue (US 41-SR 45, part of the Tamiami Trail) in Fort Myers; the eastern terminus is an intersection with SR 29 midway between Immokalee and Felda.
Route description
West of Interstate 75 (SR 93), State Road 82 is a divided residential/commuter road. Within the city of Fort Myers, it is known as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. East of Lehigh Acres, SR 82 loses its median and becomes a two-lane agricultural road as it crosses the southwest Florida farmlands and wetlands, a part of Big Cypress Swamp and the western edge of the Everglades drainage system. Though, it briefly becomes a four-lane divided roadway again in its short segment in Hendry County.
Motorists continuing past the western terminus of State Road 82 travel along McGregor Boulevard (SR 867). Other State Roads within a few blocks of the western terminus include SR 80 (western terminus located two blocks to the north) and SR 739-US 41 Bus. one-half mile to the east.
History
The route was designated State Road 184 until 1945, when it was changed to State Road 82 as part of a state-wide renumbering.[2]
Until the 1980s, SR 82 was an "interrupted" state road, for there was concurrently a Fort Lauderdale street (Davie Boulevard) with SR 82 signage. As part of a statewide renumbering, Davie Boulevard's SR 82 signage was replaced with signs showing its current designation: SR 736.
Prior to 1991, SR 82 was known as Anderson Avenue within Fort Myers before being changed to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Anderson Avenue was named for Dr. Richard Anderson, who is believed to be the first physician to set up a practice and drug store in Fort Myers.[3]
Future
The two-lane undivided section between Lehigh Acres and Immokalee has been notorious for many fatal high-speed crashes. The Florida Department of Transportation plans to widen the remaining two-lane undivided segments in coming years in a project that has been divided into seven phases. Construction to widen SR 82 from Colonial/Lee Boulevard to Shawnee Road (just east of Daniels Parkway/Gunnery Road) to six lanes is underway and will include upgrading the Daniels Parkway/Gunnery Road intersection to Florida's first continuous flow intersection. Widening from Alabama Road to the Lee/Hendry County Line will begin in 2018.[4][5][6]
Major intersections
| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lee | Fort Myers | 0.000 | 0.000 |  McGregor Boulevard to US 41 | |
| 0.200 | 0.322 | Monroe Street to US 41 | |||
| 0.645 | 1.038 |   SR 739 south (Fowler Street) | |||
| 0.756 | 1.217 |   US 41 Bus. north (Evans Avenue / SR 739) – North Fort Myers | |||
| 3.826 | 6.157 |  CR 865 (Ortiz Avenue) | |||
| 4.400 | 7.081 | I-75 – Tampa, Naples | Exit 138 on I-75 | ||
| 6.874 | 11.063 |   CR 884 (Lee Boulevard / Colonial Boulevard) to I-75 – Lehigh Acres, Fort Myers | |||
| Lehigh Acres | 11.123 | 17.901 |  Gunnery Road / Daniels Parkway (CR 876) to I-75 – Airport | ||
| Collier | | 24.521 | 39.463 |   CR 850 south (Corkscrew Road) | Northern terminus of CR 850 |
| | 29.884 | 48.094 | SR 29 – LaBelle, Immokalee, Everglades | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
References
- ^ a b FDOT straight line diagrams Archived March 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, accessed February 2014
- ^ "Collier, 1936". Florida Center for Instructional Technology. University of South Florida. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ Jacobs, T.M. (5 May 2010). "The Man Behind Anderson Avenue". Florida Weekly. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ "State Road 82 Design". Florida Department of Transportation. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
- ^ Zoldan, Sheldon (18 March 2016). "Three sections of State Road 82 will be widened in 2017-18". The News-Press. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
- ^ Russell, Ty. "FDOT considers new proposal for busy Lehigh intersection". WBBH-TV. Retrieved 19 March 2016.