State Road 694 (Florida)

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Looking west toward The Gulf of Mexico and Indian Shores, Florida from bridge over Intracoastal Waterway.

Looking north on State Road 694 from bridge over Intracoastal Waterway. Indian Shores, Florida on left, mangroves on right.

State Road 694 is an east-west route in Pinellas County running east from Indian Shores, Florida across unincorporated Pinellas County, through Seminole, Florida, more of Pinellas County, and Pinellas Park, Florida. It then turns to the northeast as it crosses US 19 in southeastern Pinellas Park and crosses into northeastern St. Petersburg, Florida, where it crosses Interstate 275. It proceeds to the northeast to the intersection with 4th Street State Road 687 (Florida) and Roosevelt Boulevard State Road 686 (Florida). The highway continues east as State Road 600 (Florida) and crosses the Gandy Bridge into Tampa.

[edit] Original Aspirations

State Road 694 was originally visioned as a multilane freeway, running from the Gandy Bridge, to almost Gulf Blvd. However, the plan was nixed in the 1970s due to an increasing business population. The remnants of this planned freeway are the US 19 interchange in Pinellas Park, the configuration of the Interstate 275 (Florida) interchange, and the wide median between MLK Jr St N and 4th St N.

[edit] Freeway Plan Revisited

Although the possibility of a freeway west of US 19 is dead today, the possibility of Gandy Blvd becoming a freeway east of Park Blvd is actually being reconsidered in series of studies. Funding has not yet been finalized, but a recent federal transportation grant made additional funds for the freeway project available. A timetable for the project is also not finalized. If the plan goes through, there would be overpasses at 4th St N/Roosevelt Blvd and MLK St N. However, according to an FDOT representative, there will be no changes made at the interchange with I-275.