Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Every time I drive between my old home in Homestead and my new home near Sebring (185 miles apart) I drive along a 25-mile portion of Florida State Road 80. It’s actually the 25-mile concurrency with U.S. 27 in Hendry and Palm Beach Counties.
(A concurrency is where a single road or highway shares different names or route numbers.)
Fun Facts: Florida State Road 80 was built (and completed) about 100 years ago – when cars were big and loud. It was originally known as Florida State Road 25 from coast-to-coast (Gulf to Atlantic). Strangely – it is still known as (hidden) State Road 25 at the 25-mile concurrency with U.S. 27.
At the 25 of 25 & 27 & 80 (see what I did there ?) it’s mostly a 55 to 65 MPH rural highway traversing west / east between Clewiston and South Bay. (Speed limits drop dramatically within the limits of the two cities.)
Between Clewiston and South Bay the road wraps around the bottom of the giant dike that surrounds Lake Okeechobee. (You actually can’t see the lake because of the giant 3-story-tall dike.) Some much-needed road milling, paving, and striping is occurring in this area. Before work began – the highway was in rough shape – like it had been neglected for several decades. Once work is completed this will be a smooth ride.
The eastern end of the concurrency of 25 & 27 & 80 is in South Bay. Florida State Road 80 pulls off by itself and runs from there to the famous A1A along the Atlantic coast in Palm Beach.
There’s a western portion of Florida State Road 80 that I’ve been on a couple of times this month, and strangely – it’s another 25-mile portion that runs between Fort Myers and Labelle.
Next #TravelThursday – Let’s go to the mall. Let’s keep traveling together.
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