Florida State Road 817

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State Road 817, locally known as University Drive, Northwest 27th Avenue, and Unity Boulevard, is a 29-mile-long divided highway serving western Broward County and northern Miami-Dade County, Florida. Its southern terminus is an intersection with SR 9 (which continues southward as Northwest 27th Avenue/Unity Boulevard) in Opa-Locka; its northern terminus is an interchange with the Sawgrass Expressway (SR 869) in Coral Springs.

State Road 817 also serves:

A major commuter road since its construction, SR 817 passes through suburban residential developments, major shopping districts, and dairy farms (which have been disappearing in the urbanization process that has been proceeding since the 1980s).

Sites along or near SR 817 include:

St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, five blocks to the west of SR 817
Dolphin Stadium (home stadium of the Miami Dolphins National Football League team, and for the time being home stadium of the Florida Marlins Major League Baseball team) and Calder Race Track in Miami Gardens
North Perry Airport in Miramar
Campuses of Nova Southeastern University, Florida Atlantic University, and Broward Community College in Davie
Several enclosed shopping centers north of Davie, including Broward Mall in Plantation, once Florida's largest, and Coral Square Mall in Coral Springs
The Miami Dolphin's Training Camp at Nova Southeastern University in Davie

University Drive continues beyond the north of the State Road 817 destination into Parkland before ending near the Palm Beach County border.

[edit] Planned Extension Into Palm Beach County

According to maps published by Fort Lauderdale-based Dolph Map Company, an extension of University Drive into Palm Beach County has been proposed. Under the proposal, the north-south highway will cross Loxahatchee Road and eventually connect with the small Palm Beach County segment of University Drive which in turn becomes Glades Road (State Road 808). It remains to be seen if the State Road 817 designation would be extended to the western end of State Road 808, or if both State Roads would be covered by a single number. If not, a Palm Beach County Road designation (most likely County Road 808) may be applied.