Florida State Road 694

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State Road 694
Gandy Boulevard
Park Boulevard
Length: 6.23 mi[1] (10.03 km)
West end: SR 693/CR 694 in Pinellas Park
Major
junctions:
CR 611 in Pinellas Park
US 19 in Pinellas Park
I-275 in St. Petersburg
East end: US 92/SR 687/SR 686 in St. Petersburg
Florida State and County Roads
< SR 693 SR 699 >
Looking west toward The Gulf of Mexico and Indian Shores, Florida from bridge over Intracoastal Waterway.
Looking west toward The Gulf of Mexico and Indian Shores, Florida from bridge over Intracoastal Waterway.
Looking north on Pinellas County Road 694 from bridge over Intracoastal Waterway. Indian Shores, Florida on left, mangroves on right.
Looking north on Pinellas County Road 694 from bridge over Intracoastal Waterway. Indian Shores, Florida on left, mangroves on right.
County Road 694
Park Boulevard
Length: 7.01 mi[1] (11.28 km)
West end: SR 699 in Indian Shores
Major
junctions:

Alt US 19/SR 595 in Seminole
CR 1 in Seminole
CR 501 in Pinellas Park
East end: SR 693/694 in Pinellas Park
Florida State and County Roads

State Road 694 is an east-west route in Pinellas County originally running east from Indian Shores, through Seminole and into Pinellas Park; it now begins in Pinellas Park at 66th Street N, with the former road to the west becoming Pinellas County Road 694. It then turns to the northeast as it crosses US 19 in southeastern Pinellas Park and crosses into northeastern St. Petersburg, where it crosses Interstate 275. It proceeds to the northeast to the intersection with 4th Street N and Roosevelt Boulevard. The highway continues east as US 92 (unsigned SR 600) 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 I-275 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.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b http://www.dot.state.fl.us/planning/statistics/pdfs/fedaidreport.pdf FDOT Federal-Aid Report
  2. ^ St. Petersburg Times March 2, 2003