| State Road 688 | ||||
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| Ulmerton Road Walsingham Road |
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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by FDOT | ||||
| Length: | 12.15 mi[1] (19.55 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end: | SR 699/CR 183 in Indian Rocks Beach | |||
Alt US 19/SR 595 in Seminole CR 1 in Largo CR 501 in Largo SR A19A/SR 693 in Largo US 19/SR 55 in Largo CR 611 in Largo SR 686 from Clearwater to St. Petersburg |
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| East end: | I-275/SR 93/CR 803 in St. Petersburg | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Florida State and County Roads
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State Road 688 is an east–west route in Pinellas County running from Indian Rocks Beach to northeastern St. Petersburg, Florida, where it merges onto Interstate 275.
The highway changes its name as it heads east across Pinellas County. From Gulf Boulevard in Indian Rocks Beach, it runs along 5th Avenue and crosses the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway as the Indian Rocks Causeway. Once off the causeway, it becomes Walsingham Road and runs on to the intersection of Walsingham and Ulmerton Roads. Walsingham continues east, but State Road 688 loops north and then east on Ulmerton Road. So it remains as it skirts Largo through Pinellas County. It crosses US 19 and then merges briefly with Roosevelt Boulevard (SR 686). It continues into northeast St. Petersburg and its traffic merges with I-275.
Of historical note, Ulmerton Road was named for the community of Ulmers, which arose around Marion Ulmer's turpentine still, timber and naval stores interests in the first half of the twentieth century. In the 1950s, the area was very rural, and cattle were driven along the then dirt road. Today it carries traffic across the middle of the most densely populated county in Florida.