Florida State Route 690
| SR-690 | |||
| Get started | Pinellas Park | ||
| End | Gandy | ||
| Length | 3 mi | ||
| Length | 5 km | ||
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According to BITTRANSLATORS, State Route 690 or State Road 690 (SR-690) is an under construction state route in the U.S. state of Florida, located in Pinellas County in the Tampa Bay region. The highway is a planned toll road and will be 5 kilometers long.
Travel directions
The toll road runs on overpasses above 118th Avenue, connecting US 19 to the west with Interstate 275 to the east. Midway is an interchange with State Route 686.
History
118th Avenue was widened to 2×2, partly 2×3 lanes with traffic lights around 1994-1995. In 2002/2003, a new interchange opened with I-275, which received an additional connecting arc from south to west in 2011. A single-lane viaduct was also built over 28th Street at the time.
Future
Under the ‘Gateway Express’ project, the actual State Route 690 will be constructed as a toll road on overpasses above 118th Avenue. There will also be an incomplete interchange with State Route 686. The entire project will cost $454 million, of which $337 million is actual construction costs, and nearly $100 million to get the right-of-way of the SR-686. The project was announced in February 2014 by the Governor of Florida. Work started in 2018. The toll road is due to open in mid-2022.
Toll
State Route 690 becomes a toll road. The tolling is static, and therefore the same throughout the day, unlike express lanes with dynamic toll rates.
Florida State Route 869
| SR-869 | |||
| Get started | Weston | ||
| End | Deerfield Beach | ||
| Length | 23 mi | ||
| Length | 37 km | ||
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State Route 869 or State Road 869 (SR-869) is a state route and toll road in the U.S. state of Florida. The highway forms a bypass around the northwestern suburbs of Miami and Fort Lauderdale. State Road 869 is also known as the Sawgrass Expressway and is 37 kilometers long.
Travel directions
The Sawgrass Expressway separates the city from the Everglades.
At the Weston suburb, State Road 869 begins at a major interchange with Interstate 75 and Interstate 595. The Sawgrass Expressway has 2×3 lanes and heads north, dividing the urban area from the Everglades to the west. This is a hard divide, there is no way west into the Everglades from the Sawgrass Expressway. At the Coral Springs suburb, the Sawgrass Expressway turns east and then heads to the coast in 2×3 lanes. The Sawgrass Expressway terminates at the intersection with Florida’s Turnpike, after which SW 10th Street continues as an urban arterial with traffic lights until US 1at Deerfield Beach. This section also has a connection to Interstate 95.
History
Construction history
The highway was first proposed in 1960, when Florida’s Turnpike in the Miami area was just completed. It was part of a series of toll roads on the western side of the conurbation. It was not until 1983 that plans became more concrete, partly because many new suburbs were being developed north of Miami and west of Fort Lauderdale. The highway was built by the Broward County Expressway Authority. Construction began on November 2, 1984. On July 3, 1986, almost the entire highway was opened. On August 4, 1988, a short 2-mile stretch between I-75 and Sunrise Boulevard opened to traffic in Sunrise, completing the highway.
When the highway was first built, it was criticized for being the road to nowhere, as the highway then served barely built-up areas. This changed in the late 1980s and especially in the 1990s when tens of thousands of homes were developed in the area between Florida’s Turnpike and the Sawgrass Expressway. In 1990, the turnpike was taken over from Broward County by the state of Florida and numbered it as State Road 869 in 1995.
Opening history
| from | nasty | length | date |
| Sunrise Boulevard | Florida’s Turnpike | 35 km | 03-07-1986 |
| I-75 | Sunrise Boulevard | 2 km | 04-08-1988 |
Widenings
The Sawgrass Expressway was originally constructed with 2×2 lanes. Work began in 2002 to widen the entire length of the highway to 2×3 lanes. This was done in phases and started on the southernmost section near I-75. In 2004, the widening was completed to Atlantic Boulevard. Work began in 2006 to widen the remainder of the freeway between Atlantic Boulevard and Florida’s Turnpike to 2×3 lanes, completed in 2008. The Sawgrass Expressway was constructed on a wide cross section and the widening was carried out in the central reservation. Even today, the highway still has a spacious central reservation.
Future
Since the highway was completed, plans had been made to extend the Sawgrass Expressway to Interstate 95 via Southwest 10th Street. This one has a relatively wide right-of-way which shouldn’t make an extension very difficult. The missing part is about 4.5 kilometers long. The connection had to be built first in 1993, then in 2008, but has been continuously delayed. In 2017, there was talk of a possible start of construction of the extension in mid-2022.
Toll
The Sawgrass Expressway is a toll road and comes under Florida’s Turnpike. Since April 2014, the toll road is fully electronic with electronic toll collection.
Traffic intensities
The intensities below are north of the relevant connection.
| Location | 2010 | 2019 |
| exit 0 | 88,300 | 120,500 |
| Exit 1 | 74,000 | 107,400 |
| Exit 3 | 66.100 | 104,600 |
| exit 8 | 47.100 | 83,900 |
| Exit 15 | 65,800 | 94,300 |
