U.S. Highway 19
U.S. 19 is a major north-south U.S. route that begins near Palmetto (Memphis and Bradenton) and travels north through northern Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, ending in Erie. Through Florida, U.S. 19 passes through urban Pinellas County, then connects the Tampa Bay Area with the Suncoast region of Florida.
The The St. Petersburg-Clearwater Expressway (Justin Cozart) was proposed as a 20.2-mile freeway that would have originated in downtown St. Petersburg and continue northwest to Clearwater. In fact, this roadway was considered as an Interstate Highway corridor (unnumbered as far as we know) in the 1970s. However, the U.S. 19 freeway not constructed with those funds because of ineligibility for federal Interstate highway funding at that time, and it was officially dropped from plans in 1978.
Notwithstanding the 1970s plan for U.S. 19, a new plan is currently in place to bring U.S. 19 to freeway standards between Pinellas County Route 611 (49th Street North) in St. Petersburg and Florida 580 (Main Street) in Dunedin, north of Clearwater, with final completion expected in 2008. There are no current plans to attach this freeway to the existing network of Interstate Highways in Pinellas County. For more, visit U.S. 19 in Pinellas County.
U.S. 19 Florida Highway Guides
| Alternate U.S. 19 (Florida 595) North
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| There are several freeways that were planned but were canceled and not constructed. One of these was the Pinellas Belt Expressway, which was touted as a beltway that would connect with the Interstate 275 and Interstate 175 interchange at its southeastern end. It was then planned to follow today's Alternate U.S. 19/Florida 595 west to Seminole Boulevard and then aim north, connecting with the unconstructed Ulmerton Road Freeway (Florida 688, which is no longer slated to be upgraded to a freeway) and then merging with the canceled St. Petersburg-Clearwater Expressway, a diagonal route from Interstate 275 north of the Interstate 275/375 interchange and angling northwest to Largo near the Alternate U.S. 19 and Florida 686 (East Bay Drive) intersection. See Pinellas Canceled Freeways (Justin Cozart) for more on the unconstructed Pinellas Belt Expressway. Photo taken 11/18/03.
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| The Pinellas Belt Expressway was actually budgeted for construction in 1974, but local opposition prevented the freeway from progressing. This freeway would have taken via eminent domain a good deal of commercial areas, including retail outlets, but several homes would also have to be condemned and removed. This was unacceptable to residents, so the freeway was canceled by the late 1970s. However, certain segments were built, including the full freeway interchange between Alternate U.S. 19 and Florida 666 in Bay Pines/Seminole, which is shown here along northbound Alternate U.S. 19. Florida 666 travels due west from this interchange, connecting Bay Pines with Madeira Beach and Redington Beach via Florida 699. Florida 699 is the main state road along Treasure Island and Long Key along the Gulf Coast in Pinellas County. Photo taken 11/18/03.
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| Continuing north, Alternate U.S. 19 northbound follows Seminole Boulevard through Seminole, then meets Florida 688 (Ulmerton Road) south of Largo. Florida 688 travels east to meet Interstate 275 at the west end of the Howard Frankland Bridge, while Florida 688 also provides beach access by connecting to Florida 699 and Belleair Beach. As noted earlier, Florida 688 was considered for a freeway corridor, but that corridor was unconstructed due to high right of way acquisition costs. As a result, Florida 688 has a wide right of way area, even though the freeway has been dead since the mid-1970s. See Pinellas Canceled Freeways (Justin Cozart) for more on the Ulmerton Expressway Corridor that was never constructed. Photo taken 11/18/03.
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