Pinellas Bayway

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The Pinellas Bayway System is a series of bridges on two Florida State Roads in Pinellas County, Florida. It is a toll road complex maintained and operated by the Florida Department of Transportation. It also is compatible with the SunPass ETC system currently in used on all other FDOT-owned toll roads. The Pinellas Bayway consists of:

• State Road 682, an east-west divided highway connecting SR 699 on a Gulf of Mexico barrier island near St. Pete Beach, Florida to Interstate 275 (SR 93) and US 19 (SR 55) in St. Petersburg. The 3.7-mile-long State Road 682 passes over three bridges (toll: 50 cents) as it crosses the entrance of Boca Ciega Bay.

• State Road 679, a hook-shaped north-south road with a four-lane divided northern half (between SR 682 and Tierra Verde) and a two-lane southern half serving Fort DeSoto Park at the tip of the "hook" (35 cents toll). Motorists traveling the entire length of SR 679 traverse two bridges.

The two State Roads intersect on Isla del Sol midway between St. Petersburg and St. Pete Beach. Both highways have drawbridges in addition to low-level causeways in their configuration. Attempts to replace the drawbridges with bridges of a different design in recent years have met resistance from both nearby residents, yachtsmen, and the local chapter of the NAACP. [1] Studies are being conducted by FDOT as to how the bridges will be replaced and how much they would cost. [2]

Both Fort DeSoto Park and the Pinellas Bayway opened on December 21, 1962. The east-west portion was then signed SR A19A, a designation it kept until the mid-1980s, when FDOT did a statewide reallocation of state route numbers.

Florida State Roads
Preceded by: 678	State Road 679	Succeeded by: 681

Florida State Roads
Preceded by: 681	State Road 682	Succeeded by: 683