List of unused highways in Florida

An unused highway may be a highway or highway ramp that was partially or fully constructed but was unused^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]} or later closed.^[10][11][12] An unused ramp can be referred to as a stub ramp,^[13] stub street,^[2][14][15] stub-out,^[2] or simply stub.^[16][17] The following is a list of unused highways:

Florida

Apopka

• State Road 429 originally ended further east than its current terminus, with plans to continue north from there. However, the land for the extension was not secured and housing was built, making an extension on that alignment more difficult. In 2012, State Road 414 was extended west from former terminus in Lockhart to SR 429 and continue north to U.S. Route 441/State Road 500. This resulted in demolition of about a mile of SR 429 and two new high speed interchanges constructed, leaving grading present where SR 429 used to run. SR 429 was routed onto the new tollway with SR 414 and State Road 451 took over the former alignment of SR 429. An extension of the expressway north of where SR 414/429 end has been approved and funded with construction scheduled for completion in 2021. It is called the Wekiva Parkway and will extend north to Sorrento area and then east along State Road 46 to Interstate 4 in Sanford^[18] at or near State Road 417. For now, SR 414/429 end abruptly in a wide right-of-way.

Bithlo

• County Road 13 as re-routed and/or abandoned over a few lengths in its original course. One section north of Wedgefield:(28°31′04″N 81°05′42″W / 28.5177167°N 81.0951361°W / 28.5177167; -81.0951361) and the other within the Cypress Lakes subdivision: (28°34′35″N 81°06′54″W / 28.5763028°N 81.1150833°W / 28.5763028; -81.1150833)

Fruit Cove

• A few small stubs exist at the intersection of Race Track Rd and Bartram Park Blvd. They will form an interchange for the planned State Road 9B.

Jacksonville

• An exit ramp sits closed off and unused at the interchange of Interstate 95 and Interstate 295 after a flyover ramp was built, making the ramp redundant.
• Ramp stubs were built in 1991 as part of the reconstruction of the Interstate 95 and Interstate 10 interchange.^[19][20] One stub ramp became a high speed, right-hand exit from I-95 northbound to I-10 westbound on August 16, 2008, and two other stub ramps became an integral part of the collector/distributor lanes on I-95, north of the interchange, as of May 2007.^[21]
• A stub ramp existed along Interstate 295 southeast of the city. This stub now leads to State Road 9B (soon to be Interstate 795).^[22]

Kendall

• The Florida Turnpike has a set of ramp stubs near its junction with the Don Shula Expressway (State Road 874) near Kendall. Originally, Florida Route 874 was supposed to continue southward toward Homestead on the current alignment of the turnpike, with the turnpike extending to the southwest, along a continuation of the current alignment of Florida Route 874.^[23][24] Southbound Florida Route 874 also has a remnant of a ramp stub as it crosses Snapper Creek just east of the turnpike. The bridge over the creek is wider than normal, which facilitated the ramp at the time.

Kissimmee

• Exit 244 on the Florida Turnpike used to be a complete trumpet, but the northbound off-ramp was removed after a northbound-only off-ramp was opened in 2004 two miles to the south, after conversion from ticket-distance tolls (requiring booths for all entrances and exits) to cash-interval toll booths.^[25] The part of the ramp that was completely removed still has obvious grading, including a clearing through the trees. The remaining pavement is part of the northbound on-ramp, which has a very wide ramp and a wide overpass where the off-ramp used to be.

Longwood

• Miami Springs Dr has a closed, unused, short northerly extension including a bridge over the Wekiva River. This section was purportedly built in the late 1950s.

Miami

• A stub exists on an onramp from northbound State Road 953 (LeJeune Road) to westbound State Road 836 (Dolphin Expressway). This was removed in the 1990s, which eliminated the connection that encouraged weaving on the expressway.^[26] Now southbound State Road 953 traffic must take three surface streets west to NW 45th Avenue to reach westbound State Road 836. Old configuration
• A stub ramp exists on the State Road 836/Dolphin Expressway at NW 17th Avenue. This is what is left over from when the expressway and adjacent tollgate were reconstructed from 2000 to 2003.^[27] The exit for NW 15th Avenue and NW South River Drive existed originally on the bridge over NW 17th Avenue. This exit and the one for southbound NW 17th Ave were combined for a more westerly beginning and given their own toll plaza. Also as a result of this reconstruction, unused pavement stands just before the NW 15th Ave/NW South River Dr split. Photo and map views of the previous configuration.

Nocatee

• There are two stubs from Nocatee Parkway, at the western end. These are likely for a future completed interchange with U.S. Route 1 and a continuation to Interstate 95.
• There is a bridge over the Old Dixie Highway near the west end of the Nocatee Parkway, but the Dixie Highway stretch it bridges has been only collecting water and is apparently unused.

Ocoee

• While the eastern extension of State Road 408 was being built, the Western Beltway (eventually named SR 429) was being discussed and a connection from SR 408 to the new beltway was constructed. The alignment for SR 429 was eventually built further west, leaving the planned interchange with SR 50 overpowered.^[28]

Orlando

• The partially completed stack interchange at Interstate 4 and State Road 408 has a ramp stub on westbound 408, in preparation for replacing the underpass to merge onto I-4 West with a flyover. The ramp for eastbound 408 to I-4 eastbound was realigned to the north in 2008, with stub ends constructed on the elevated ramp. These stub ends are part of a future upgrade of the ramp to handle movements from eastbound 408 to both directions of I-4, eliminating the current double-trumpet.^[29] The original 408 to eastbound I-4 movement was adjacent to the eastbound I-4 to 408 lanes and now has an abandoned lane on the flyover and grading where the ramp was. Additionally, during this reconstruction, a westbound I-4 off-ramp to Gore St. was closed and demolished, though the right-of-way can still be seen.
• State Road 4080 was an unsigned connection for eastbound State Road 408 to northbound State Road 417 and southbound SR 417 to westbound SR 408. It at one point served as the mainline of SR 408 before SR 408 was continued eastward in 1989. In 2013, new ramps were built at the main 408/417 interchange, eliminating that left-handed exit and merge SR 4080 had with SR 417. The pavement was removed in favor of a frontage road connecting Valencia College Lane with Chickasaw Trail, but the wide right-of-way is still visible. SR 417's southbound lanes were shifted east and lowered to ground level, eliminating the overpass.^[30]
• State Road 408 used to end at State Road 50 just west of State Road 435/Kirkman Road. Construction on a westward extension to the Florida Turnpike finished in 1990, with the segment west of SR 435 to SR 50 designated State Road 4081 during the extension construction. The pavement was torn up, leaving an open right-of-way.
• At the southern edge of Orlando International Airport, there is a long, unused ramp approximately 0.5 mi (0.8 km) in length. The ramp does not connect to any part of the road and is fenced off.
• In Williamsburg, Williamsburg Blvd. abruptly ends before a clearing of trees and grading leading to an unused bridge over Shingle Creek, that was likely built anticipating future development of the road. The Grande Lakes Golf Course and resort lies on the other side of the bridge, making it unlikely that the road will ever be extended.

Osceola County

• A nearly 20 mile section of U.S. 192/SR 500 was completely abandoned in the late 1940s and early 1950s. It sits on private land. (28°12′57″N 81°07′19″W / 28.2158139°N 81.1219278°W / 28.2158139; -81.1219278)

St. Petersburg

• Southbound Interstate 275 has a ramp stub just west of 31st Street South. It was intended to be an on-ramp from a proposed Pinellas Beltway expressway that was killed in 1978.^[31]
• The interchange between Interstate 275 and Interstate 375 has a ramp stub, as it was originally intended to have a direct connection between I-375 and 20th Street North (a planned extension of I-375 was killed prior to construction of the interchange ^[32]) . The Florida Department of Transportation decided that an additional ramp to a nearby surface street was unnecessary and cancelled the rest of the construction.^[33]

Sweetwater

• The original, temporary^[34] western terminus of the State Road 836 (Dolphin Expressway) featured ramp stubs not only on the westbound mainline before drivers merge onto Florida's Turnpike near Doral and Sweetwater, but also on the cloverleaf-style onramp from the southbound turnpike to eastbound State Road 836. Construction of a new westward extension of State Road 836^[35] changed the original route, based on aerial observation of then and now , and eliminated all but one of the ramp stubs, found near the end of the southbound turnpike to eastbound State Road 836 ramp. Here are pre-construction (1999) ground shots.

Tampa

A stub ramp on the north side of the connector. When express toll lanes are added to the median of I-4, the existing ramp to the median will connect with the westbound express lanes, while a new bridge will connect this stub to non-tolled lanes of westbound I-4.

• The interchange between Interstate 4 and the I-4/Selmon Expressway Connector, which opened in 2014, includes four stub ramps.^[36] In the future, FDOT plans to add express toll lanes in the median of I-4. The current interchange has two flyovers—from westbound I-4 to the Connector and from the Connector to eastbound I-4—which connect with I-4 in the median of the highway. When the express lanes are built, the current flyovers will be modified to connect with the express lanes and will be functionally replaced by two new ramps, using the stub ramps.^[37]

See also

• List of unused highways
• List of ghost towns in Florida

References