Florida State Road 82

State Road 82 (SR 82) is a 29-mile-long east–west highway serving northern Lee and Collier County, Florida (and "clipping" the southwest corner of Hendry County). The western terminus is an intersection with Cleveland Avenue (US 41-SR 45, part of the Tamiami Trail) in Fort Myers; the eastern terminus is an intersection with SR 29 midway between Immokalee and Felda.

For a street in Fort Lauderdale, Florida that was once designated State Road 82, see Florida State Road 736.

State Road 82
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
SR 82 highlighted in black
Route information
Maintained by FDOT
Length29.884 mi[1] (48.094 km)
ExistedJune 11, 1945 (1945-06-11)–present
Major junctions
West end US 41 / SR 867 in Fort Myers
  I-75 in Fort Myers
East end SR 29 near Immokalee
Highway system
← SR 81→ SR 83

Route description

West of Interstate 75 (SR 93), State Road 82 is a divided residential/commuter road. Within the city of Fort Myers, it is known as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Near Lehigh Acres, SR 82 intersects Daniels Parkway and Gunnery Road at a continuous-flow intersection. Further east at Alabama Road, SR 82 loses its median and becomes a two-lane agricultural road as it crosses the southwest Florida farmlands and wetlands, a part of Big Cypress Swamp and the western edge of the Everglades drainage system. Though, it briefly becomes a four-lane divided roadway again in its short segment in Hendry County.

Motorists continuing past the western terminus of State Road 82 travel along McGregor Boulevard (SR 867). Other State Roads within a few blocks of the western terminus include SR 80 (western terminus located two blocks to the north) and SR 739-Business US 41 one-half mile (0.80 km) to the east.

History

The route was designated State Road 184 until 1945, when it was changed to State Road 82 as part of a state-wide renumbering.[2]

Until the 1980s, SR 82 was an "interrupted" state road, for there was concurrently a Fort Lauderdale street (Davie Boulevard) with SR 82 signage. As part of a statewide renumbering, Davie Boulevard's SR 82 signage was replaced with signs showing its current designation, SR 736.

Prior to 1991, SR 82 was known as Anderson Avenue within Fort Myers before being changed to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Anderson Avenue was named for Dr. Richard Anderson, who is believed to be the first physician to set up a practice and drug store in Fort Myers.[3]

Future

The two-lane undivided section from east of Lehigh Acres to Immokalee has been notorious for many fatal high-speed crashes. The Florida Department of Transportation is gradually widening the remaining two-lane undivided segments. Construction to widen SR 82 from Colonial/Lee Boulevard to Shawnee Road to six lanes was completed in 2019 and widening from there to Alabama Road was completed in 2020. The widening project upgraded the Daniels Parkway/Gunnery Road intersection to Florida's first continuous-flow intersection (CFI), which was opened July 9, 2019.[4] Construction to widen the road from Alabama Road to the Lee/Hendry County Line to four lanes is also underway.[5][6][7]

Major intersections
CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
LeeFort Myers0.0000.000 McGregor Boulevard to US 41
0.2000.322
US 41 Bus. west (Monroe Street) to US 41		Monroe Street is inventoried as part of SR 82.[8]
0.6451.038 SR 739 south (Fowler Street)temporary southern terminus of US 41 Bus. south
0.7561.217
US 41 Bus. north (Evans Avenue / SR 739) – North Fort Myers
3.8266.157 CR 865 (Ortiz Avenue)
4.4007.081 I-75 – Tampa, NaplesExit 138 on I-75
6.87411.063 CR 884 (Lee Boulevard / Colonial Boulevard) to I-75 – Lehigh Acres, Fort Myers
Lehigh Acres11.12317.901 Gunnery Road / Daniels Parkway (CR 876) to I-75 – AirportContinuous-flow intersection
Collier​24.52139.463 CR 850 south (Corkscrew Road)Northern terminus of CR 850
​29.88448.094 SR 29 – LaBelle, Immokalee, Everglades
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References
  1. Transportation and Data Analytics Office (October 1, 2018). "Straight Line Diagram of Road Inventory". Florida Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  2. "Collier, 1936". Florida Center for Instructional Technology. University of South Florida. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  3. Jacobs, T.M. (May 5, 2010). "The Man Behind Anderson Avenue". Florida Weekly. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  4. Dickert, Allyssa. "New Continuous Flow Intersection now open in Lehigh Acres". Fox 4 Now. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  5. "State Road 82 Design". Florida Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  6. Zoldan, Sheldon (March 18, 2016). "Three sections of State Road 82 will be widened in 2017-18". The News-Press. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  7. Russell, Ty. "FDOT considers new proposal for busy Lehigh intersection". WBBH-TV. Retrieved March 19, 2016.

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