| State Road 589 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suncoast Parkway Veterans Expressway |
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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise | ||||
| Length: | 53.648 mi[1][2] (86.338 km) | |||
| Existed: | 1994 (Veterans Expressway) 2001 (Suncoast Parkway) – present |
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| Major junctions | ||||
| South end: | I-275 / SR 60 in Tampa | |||
| SR 580 in Tampa SR 568 / SR 597 in Lutz SR 54 in Odessa SR 52 near Shady Hills SR 50 in Spring Hill |
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| North end: | US 98 / SR 700 near Chassahowitzka | |||
| Location | ||||
| Counties: | Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Florida State and County Roads
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The Veterans Expressway and Suncoast Parkway (State Road 589) is a north–south toll road near the Florida Gulf Coast.[3][4] Maintained and operated by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, this 57-mile (92 km) transportation corridor extends from State Road 60 in Tampa, north to U.S. Route 98 near Chassahowitzka. The Veterans Expressway was built to accommodate the increasing commuter traffic in the Tampa-St. Petersburg metropolitan area, with the Suncoast Parkway opening in 2001, extending from near the northern terminus of the Veterans Expressway to US Route 98, with a possible northern extension to U.S. Route 19/U.S. Route 98 in Crystal River in Citrus County in the planning and development stages.[5]
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The Veterans Expressway extends 15 miles (24 km) from State Road 60 (the Courtney Campbell Causeway) west of Tampa International Airport to State Road 597 (Dale Mabry Highway) in northern Hillsborough County. The southern two miles (3 km), between Courtney Campbell Causeway and Hillsborough Avenue (on the west side of Tampa International Airport), upgraded Eisenhower Boulevard to expressway standards with frontage roads and is not tolled. North of Hillsborough Avenue, the remaining 13 miles (21 km) are tolled.
Between Courtney Campbell Causeway and Dale Mabry Highway, intermediate interchanges are provided at Independence Parkway, Memorial Highway, Hillsborough Avenue, Waters Avenue, Anderson Road, Linebaugh Avenue/Wilsky Boulevard, Gunn Highway, Erlich Road, Hutchison Road and Van Dyke Road. There are two mainline barrier plazas (Anderson and Sugarwood) and six ramp plazas.[6][7] The "N minus 1" formula is used for truck toll rate schedule.
The 42-mile-long Suncoast Parkway (SR 589) proceeds north from the Veterans Expressway to US 98 in Hernando County, Florida, near Chassahowitzka.[8] Drivers of automobiles traveling the entire length of the Suncoast Parkway pay $3.00 US toll.
The Suncoast Parkway is the first Florida's Turnpike Enterprise toll road to feature open road tolling. The three mainline toll plazas on the Suncoast Parkway feature bypasses where those paying cash remain on the mainline and stop at the toll plaza while those with Sunpass or related transponders exit the mainline roadway, bypass the toll plaza and then re-enter the mainline. This differs from other open road tolling locations in Florida where transponder users remain on the mainline and bypass toll booths built to the side.
As part of the Suncoast Parkway project, a multi-use paved recreational trail called the Suncoast Trail, was constructed parallel to the western side of the highway, and opened along with the Parkway itself in 2001.[9] The trail begins at Lutz-Lake Fern Road (Exit 16), and continues north for 41 miles to the highway's terminus at US 98. Four miles north of State Road 54, an additional 6.5 mile paved bicycle trail connects the Suncoast Trail to the J.B. Starkey Wilderness Park in New Port Richey. Use of the Suncoast Trail is free, but in late 2010, a $2.00 parking fee was implemented at the Lutz-Lake Fern (Hillsborough County) and State Route 54 (Pasco County) trailheads. Both counties offer annual passes, which are valid only within the county of issue. Motor vehicles are prohibited along the entire trail.
For most of its length, the Suncoast Trail stays close to the parkway, separated by fences, grass, and in some places concrete barriers. Bridges that cross rivers and streams were built with enough width to accommodate trail users. Where roads cross above the Parkway, particularly north of State Road 52, the trail briefly strays from the parkway, allowing users to cross the intersecting road at-grade.
Pedestrian/cyclist crossing of minor cross streets is regulated by posted signs. At busier intersections, pedestrian crossing signals are part of the traffic signal systems already in place. The notable exception is at the State Road 50 interchange near Brooksville, where a dedicated overpass has been constructed to cross State Road 50, approximately 500 feet west of the main parkway.
The Veterans Expressway is the north-south portion of what was the Northwest Hillsborough Expressway, originally proposed in the 1960s as the northwest beltway around Tampa's outer limits. As the plans finalized, the communities along the route grew, leading to rising land costs and opposition to the expressway dividing the towns. Lutz was especially vocal, eventually rallying state politicians to cancel the expressway construction altogether. By the mid-1980s, the expressway was broken in two segments, the Veterans Expressway and the Lutz Expressway. In the early 1990s, the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority began to build the Veterans Expressway, but was depleted of funds, leading to Florida's Turnpike Enterprise purchasing the right of way using the existing design to complete construction of the expressway. State Road 589 was designated the Veterans Expressway in 1992 and was completed in October 1994.
With the completion of the Suncoast Parkway in 2001, the stub of the Veterans Expressway from Exit 13 to Dale Mabry Highway was designated State Road 568.
Originally, State Road 589 was concurrent with State Road 60 between Exit 2A and Exit 1, then extended to West Spruce Street and Boy Scout Boulevard. These roads were re-designated as SR 616.
South of the southern terminus, SR 589 was planned to be branched off onto the West Crosstown Expressway and become part of the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway, at the Selmon Expressway's Exit 4. The West Crosstown was canceled due to a freeway revolt, and the SR 589 and SR 449 designations were eliminated from the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway.
Construction began on the Suncoast Parkway in 1998, and opened in 2001 in two stages at a cost of $507 million. The section from the Veterans Expressway to State Road 50 opened in February 2001 and the section from State Road 50 north to U.S. Route 98 opened in August 2001.
From its opening in 1994, the Veterans Expressway saw very little changes in its roadway configuration. When the Suncoast Parkway was constructed in 1998 (through 2001), the Van Dyke Road interchange was reconfigured.
In August 2005, a massive reconstruction project began on the interchanges between I-275 and Memorial Highway, near Tampa International Airport after being shelved for over fifteen years. The project consisted of a four-level stack interchange at the Spruce St Interchange, a three-level interchange at the Courtney Campbell Causeway, and an extensive auxiliary exit ramp system stretching from Independence Pkwy to just north of I-275. The first phase, dealing with the northbound lanes to the airport was completed on March 31, 2010 at a cost of $202 million.[10] The second phase, which upgrades the southbound lanes is currently in the early design stages and there is currently no timetable set for construction.
The project has resulted in better access from southbound Veterans Expressway to the Courtney Campbell Causeway on State Road 60, the Airport to I-275 and the WestShore Business District.[11] According to the Florida Department of Transportation, the tallest flyover is 2,096 feet (639 m) long and 75 feet (23 m) high at its peak.[12]
As of August 2007 video cameras have been added on the road every 10th of a mile down the span of the toll road.
During the course of 2006 through 2010, a study was performed on a project that would widen the Veterans Expressway to eight lanes between Memorial Highway and Van Dyke Road.[13] In August, 2011, FDOT awarded $172 million dollars to fund widening between Gunn Hwy the Tampa Airport interchanges. The project could begin as early as summer 2012 and will coincide with a project to convert the entire stretch of the Veterans Expressway and Suncoast Parkway to Open Road Tolling, eliminating all cash collection along both thoroughfares in favor of SunPass and the "We Bill You" (Toll-by-Plate) programs. [14] The Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway underwent such a conversion during the course of 2010.
With the Suncoast Parkway extension in Citrus County still unresolved, ten different alignments, with four southern segments, twelve central segments, and one northern segment, have been brought to attention regarding the parkway's routing. Regardless of the alignment (if selected and built), the list of proposed interchanges is as follows.[15]
| Intersecting Roadway | Notes |
|---|---|
| US 98 / SR 700 Current northern terminus. | Four alignments are proposed for this interchange |
| Cardinal Street | Four alignments are proposed for this interchange |
| SR 44 | Three alignments are proposed for this interchange |
| CR 495 (North Citrus Avenue) | One alignment is proposed for this interchange |
| US 19 / US 98 / SR 55 | One alignment is proposed for this interchange |
Critics of the Suncoast Parkway extension believe that such a plan would disrupt the quiet, undisturbed sections of Citrus County and bring forth more urban sprawl to the county. Furthermore, impacted residents fear that the parkway alignments come too close to their residences and will cause excessive noise and decreased property values.
The St. Petersburg Times reported on March 7, 2009 that the Suncoast Parkway extension project will be on hold indefinitely due to lower toll revenues resulting from the slow economy. The $140 million already allocated for the project will be spent on other projects and expenses instead.[16]
| County | Location | Mile[2] | #[4] | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsborough | Tampa | I-275 (Kennedy Blvd) / SR 60 east – Tampa | Southern terminus of SR 589; Roadway continues east as SR 60; southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| 1A | Tampa International Airport via George J Bean Parkway | ||||
| 1B | SR 616 (Spruce Street) – Raymond James Stadium | Access to O'Brien Street is provided at both directions. Southbound (ONLY) access to Cypress Street is also provided. | |||
| 2A | SR 60 west (Courtney Campbell Causeway) – Clearwater | End of SR 60 concurrency | |||
| 0.700 | 2B | Independence Parkway | Northbound exit and southbound entrance (northbound exit is only accessed through central "thru" lanes. C/D lanes utilize the Memorial Highway exit) | ||
| 1.042 | 3 | CR 576 (Memorial Highway) | |||
| 2.052 | 4 | SR 580 (Hillsborough Avenue) | |||
| 4.082 | 6A | Waters Avenue | |||
| Anderson Toll Plaza ($1.00, $0.75 with SunPass) | |||||
| 4.694 | 6B | Anderson Road | |||
| 5.653 | 7 | Linebaugh Avenue West | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
| 6.250 | 8 | Wilsky Boulevard | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| 7.741 | 9 | CR 587 (Gunn Highway) – Citrus Park | |||
| 8.682 | 10 | Ehrlich Road – Citrus Park, Northdale | |||
| Sugarwood Toll Plaza ($0.75, $0.50 with SunPass) | |||||
| 10.606 | 12 | Hutchison Road | |||
| Cheval | 12.136 | 13 | SR 568 east (Veterans Expressway) to SR 597 (Dale Mabry Highway) | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |
| Veterans Expressway begins southbound, Suncoast Parkway begins northbound | |||||
| 12.814 | 14 | CR 685A (Van Dyke Road) – Lutz | |||
| 16 | CR 582 (Lutz–Lake Fern Road) | Opened August 15, 2009.[17][18] Suncoast Trail begins here. | |||
| Pasco | 17.338 | 19 | SR 54 – Land O' Lakes, Odessa | ||
| Anclote Toll Plaza ($1.00) | |||||
| 24 | CR 524 (Ridge Road) | ||||
| Shady Hills | 27.154 | 27 | SR 52 – Hudson, Dade City, San Antonio | ||
| Spring Hill Toll Plaza ($1.00) | |||||
| 35.937 | 37 | CR 578 (County Line Road) – Masaryktown | |||
| Hernando | |||||
| Spring Hill | 39.390 | 41 | CR 574 (Spring Hill Drive) | ||
| 43.148 | 46 | SR 50 – Weeki Wachee, Brooksville | |||
| Oak Hammock Toll Plaza ($1.00) | |||||
| 53.648 | 54 | US 98 to US 19 – Crystal River, Tallahassee | |||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus • Closed/Former • Incomplete access • Unopened |
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Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Suncoast_Parkway Suncoast Parkway] at Wikimedia Commons
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