Interstate 75
Routing
Interstate 75 is the longest Interstate highway in the state of Florida. Starting in Hialeah, just north of Miami, Interstate 75 parallels Interstate 95 for its first several miles, then turns west along the Alligator Alley toll road to cross the Everglades Swamp. Interstate 75 resumes its northward journey at Naples, just after the interchange with Florida 951. Interstate 75 then serves the Gulf Coast of Florida, connecting Naples with Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Venice, Sarasota, Bradenton, and Tampa. From Tampa northward, Interstate 75 moves away from the Gulf Coast, but it provides the primary route to Atlanta and points north, including the Midwest. Interstate 75 ultimately terminates in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
History
In the 1958 original plan, Interstate 75 was not slated to extend south of Tampa; the major north-south freeway was instead planned to culminate its southbound journey in Tampa at an interchange with Interstate 4 near downtown. However, it became clear that Southwest Florida needed a freeway connection. To that end, in 1968, the extension to Miami was made part of the planned Interstate network for Florida; it would take approximately 25 years until the route was fully completed to Hialeah. At the same time, Interstate 4's western terminus was retracted to Tampa, since a proposed extension to St. Petersburg Beach on the Gulf Coast was never constructed.
The 1968 plan was to run Interstate 75 through Tampa and St. Petersburg, overtaking a portion of Interstate 4 and the Sunshine Skyway (U.S. 19). Former Interstate 4 over the Howard Frankland Bridge was recommissioned as Interstate 75 in 1971. The bypass would have been Interstate 75E, and it would have incorporated what was proposed as the "West Coast Turnpike" in the early 1960s. The West Coast Turnpike was considered as a potential corridor from the vicinity of Lutz south to Pametto and then south to Naples, connecting to the Alligator Alley. Since suffixed routes were not recommended, Interstate 75E was briefly renumbered as Interstate 275 in the early 1970s.
Rather than have Interstate 75 pass through the metropolitan area, it was deemed too expensive to maintain the Interstate 275 corridor to a level that would accommodate that level of traffic; a study in 1972 indicated that the freeway would need to be improved significantly within four years. To keep through traffic minimized through Tampa and St. Petersburg, Interstate 75 was redirected to the bypass route, while the through town route became Interstate 275 as of 1973. By 1980, Interstate 275 was signed in its current configuration.
As for Interstate 75, it followed the once-planned West Coast Turnpike south, closely paralleling that corridor but built as a free Interstate highway (no toll). During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Interstate 75 was built between Lutz and Naples, with sections opened in increments. The route from Lutz to Naples was completed in 1982. Some opposition to the freeway, along with required environmental mitigation delayed completion, especially for the route within the Tampa Bay metropolitan area.
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Continuing south (east) from Naples, Interstate 75 was planned to continue east via the two-lane Alligator Alley (former Florida 838, then Florida 84, now hidden Florida 84/93) to metropolitan South Florida. The process to bring the Alley to Interstate standards took most of the 1980s, and it was completed in 1992. Environmental mitigation (including undercrossings for the endangerd Florida Panther), improved drainage, a second set of travel lanes, and improved interchanges were all completed. Tolls were originally proposed to be removed once the freeway upgrade was complete, but continuing maintenance of the Alligator Alley requires that the tolls remain in place. (Several news articles from the late 1980s in Naples Daily News and Marco Island Eagle promised the tolls would be removed on Interstate 75/Alligator Alley once the freeway upgrade was completed in 1992, but the tolls are still in place today.)
The current alignment of Interstate 75 between Hialeah and Naples is not the planned one. The original plan, publicized by Florida DOT in 1971, was to route Interstate 75 along U.S. 41/Tamiami Trail through the Everglades, then follow what is now Toll Florida 836/Dolphin (formerly East-West) Expressway through Miami, with connections to Interstate 95 and Interstate 395. Had this plan gone forward, it is possible that Interstate 75 could have been signed further east, crossing into Miami Beach.
This plan was considered between 1971 and 1974, but it shelved because of variety of opposition to using U.S. 41 for a new Interstate highway. Business owners and property owners who stood to gain financially from the Alligator Alley, which was already built, could see a loss of revenue if the Interstate avoided them. In addition, the concept of constructing a new freeway through the Everglades also heightened environmental concerns. The Alligator Alley, a two-lane freeway along Florida 84, was a glaring example of poor environmental planning for road construction in the Everglades. Finally, since Toll Florida 836/Dolphin (East-West) Expressway had begun construction, it was too late to go back to the drawing board to design and construct that freeway to a higher Interstate standard. The cost for future upgrading of the Dolphin would be expensive and deemed wasteful, since the state would be tearing down the expressway as soon as it just was finished being built.
In 1977, the alignment for Interstate 75 changed as a result of this input. Leaving U.S. 41 on its own route from Naples to Miami, Interstate 75 would instead cross the Everglades on an upgraded Alligator Alley that would connect with the planned Interstate 595 in western Broward County. Alligator Alley was still two lanes in 1977, and it would brought up to Interstate standards by 1992, the year Interstate 75 was considered completed in Southwest and South Florida. As part of this project, the Alligator Alley was improved for drainage, water flow, and animal migration, thus creating a more environmentally friendly freeway corridor. True to its name, alligators swim in the swampy areas adjacent to the Alley.
In 1980, construction on Interstate 75 started in southwest Broward. A 4.1-mile section from Griffin Road to Pines Boulevard was open in August 1984, and the entire section from the U.S. 27/Alligator Alley interchange southeast to Florida 826/Palmetto Expressway in Dade County was open in October 1986. Shortly after, work began to upgrade Alligator Alley to Interstate standard, which was completed in 1992.
When Interstate 75 was completed in 1986, southwest Broward County and northeast Miami-Dade County was largely uninhabited. The land was entirely farmland, and the eight-lane superhighway seemed excessive given the low traffic volumes. On the sides of the highway, grazing cows were a common sight. This changed, however, as the areas around Interstate 75 developed.
With key connections to primary east-west arterial routes (such as Miramar Parkawy and Pines Boulevard), the area rapidly expanded into a new suburban area. The cities of Weston, Pembroke Pines, and Miramar grew enormously through the 1990s. For example, between 1990 and 2000, the city of Pembroke Pines doubled in population, from 65,452 to 137,427. Houses, big box commercial, and a new road network developed through this decade. Many of the people living in these communities commute daily to jobs in Miami and live in suburban Broward County. Interstate 75 gained a good deal of additional traffic, and today the highway can experience commute hour delays and average daily traffic counts of 141,500 vehicles daily between the Dade County line and Miramar Parkway in 2002.
The construction of Interstate 75 significantly altered the face of Broward and Miami-Dade Counties, and it introduced a new traffic conduit onto Florida 821/Homestead Extension of the Florida's Turnpike (HEFT) and Florida 826/Palmetto Expressway. Even though real estate is at a premium on Florida 826, there is plenty of room for expansion on Interstate 75 and on the turnpike. As of early 2005, Interstate 75 is generally six to eight lanes wide, but it has a very wide median as well as ample right-of-way along the sides. So theoretically, I-75 can be widened to 12 lanes and still have room for light rail without any homes or businesses being disrupted. It has the capability to become a massive Los Angeles-style high speed freeway/transitway such as Interstate 105/Anderson Freeway or Interstate 110/Harbor Freeway in Los Angeles.
Index
Many thanks to Justin Cozart and Jason Learned for the background information about Florida's Interstate 75. See South Florida Roads (by Jason Learned) for more information. This information was originally posted on TropicalTurnpikes.com and is reproduced with permission by Justin Cozart.
Scenes Pertaining to Interstate 75
| After departing from the Florida 826/Palmetto Expressway and Florida 924/Gratigny Parkway interchange, Interstate 75 begins its northerly journey from Hialeah toward Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The freeway has three through lanes to start on the connection from westbound Florida 924 to northbound Interstate 75. The left lane ends as traffic merges from ramps originating from Florida 826/Palmetto Expressway. Photo taken 12/28/03.
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| This Interstate 75 shield is mounted below the Florida 29 northbound shield just north of the intersection between U.S. 41/Tamiami Trail and Florida 29. Photo taken 12/28/03.
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| At the rest area along east-west Interstate 75/Alligator Alley in Broward County, trailblazer shields from the parking lot point to east and west Interstate 75, with eastbound traveling to Fort Lauderdale and westbound traveling to Naples. Photo taken 12/28/03.
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| In Manatee County, this Interstate 75 shield is posted on westbound Manatee County Route 6 just prior to the junction with the Interstate. Photo taken 12/28/03.
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| Pasco County Route 41 intersects Interstate 75 at Exit 293 near Blanton. North Interstate 75 leads to Ocala, and south Interstate 75 leads to Tampa. Photo taken 04/2004.
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| This is the junction shield found on Pasco County Route 41 as it approaches Interstate 75 near Blanton. Photo taken 04/2004.
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| Through the Everglades, Interstate 75 follows a straight east-west alignment along the toll Alligator Alley/Everglades Parkway, which is former Florida 84. Prior to the early 1990s, the Alligator Alley was only two lanes wide. It was expanded to four lanes, and provisions were made to improve water flow, construct wildlife crossings for the endangered Florida panther, and make the project less intrusive to the environment. Nevertheless, the freeway rests on fill for much of the route from Naples east to near Fort Lauderdale. The first two photos of the Alley was taken from the Florida 29 overpass, one of the few overpasses between Exits 23 and 101. The third photo was taken looking west, while the fourth photo looks east. First two photos taken 12/28/03; second two photos taken 06/25/05.
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Page Updated January 27, 2005.
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