Florida's Turnpike

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State Road 91
Length:	264.96[1] mi (426.42 km) (309 mi (497 km) via the Homestead Ext.)
Formed:	1957
South end:	I-95/US 441/SR 9 at the Golden Glades Interchange
Major junctions:	Homestead Extension in Miramar I-595 near Fort Lauderdale I-4 in Orlando
North end:	I-75 near Wildwood
Florida State and County Roads < SR 90 ex-SR 92 >

Florida's Turnpike is a toll road that runs 312 miles (497 km) down the Florida peninsula through 11 counties, from US 1 in Florida City to Interstate 75 at Wildwood. It runs through Orlando, where it crosses Interstate 4; and West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, where it parallels Interstate 95, often literally next to it.

The Turnpike itself is actually in two sections. The Mainline is a 269-mile route from the Golden Glades Interchange north of Miami to Wildwood that carries the hidden designation of State Road 91. This page's exit list describes the mainline only. The Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike (HEFT) runs from Florida City (near Homestead) through the suburbs to the west and north of Miami. It connects to the Mainline four miles north of the Golden Glades Interchange.

[edit] Tolls

A 1957 photo showing the original south end, five years prior to the construction of the Golden Glades Interchange. The crossroads are SR 826 and US 441 (SR 7), both of which turn onto the road behind the photographer to cross the railroad and intersect SR 9 (now I-95).

Tolls on the turnpike are set at 7.5 cents per mile US for two-axle vehicles. As the turnpike system is a primary route useful for evacuations, when necessary, the state may suspend tolls on the Turnpike, as well as other roads in the system when a hurricane watch is issued or when other state or national emergencies warrant rapid movement of the population. Payment is via cash near the urban and suburban areas of Miami and Orlando, and via ticket the rest of the way (south of Kissimmee and north of Lantana). The SunPass electronic toll collection system can be used throughout the Turnpike, and other electronic toll collection systems in Florida, such as E-Pass, O-Pass and LeeWay, can also be used.

Tolls collected on Turnpike-owned roads are used to meet debt service obligations, and for operation and maintenance of the system. Profits, in conjunction with the issuance of revenue bonds, may fund new Turnpike-system roads or major system enhancement projects.

[edit] Management

Management is by the Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, part of the Florida Department of Transportation. It was formerly called the Florida's Turnpike District, and has always been a separate district of FDOT.

In addition to the Turnpike Mainline and HEFT, the Turnpike Enterprise also maintains several toll bridges (including the Sunshine Skyway Bridge), Polk Parkway (SR 570), Suncoast Parkway (SR 589), Sawgrass Expressway (SR 869), and non-Orange County sections of the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority System. It also maintained Pineda Causeway (SR 404) until tolls were removed in 1989 and it was turned over to FDOT District 5.

SunPass electronic toll collection is available on all toll roads in Florida, including the OOCEA system (interoperating with E-Pass), Osceola Parkway in Kissimmee (interoperating with O-Pass), Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway in Tampa, and the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority system.

[edit] Interchanges

Exits on the highway are on the mile-log system. The Turnpike started using this system long before Florida's interstates were on the system, but originally used a sequential system, and then a hybrid where adjacent exit numbers differed by 4 south of SR 60 (exit 60 at the time) and 5 north of SR 60. Motorist-aid call boxes are located on both outside shoulders of the road every mile (1.6 km), and send only a signal indicating the need for gasoline, repair (tire or engine), or emergency services (police, ambulance, or firefighters).

[edit] Service plazas

Seven service plazas are located along the Turnpike mainline, spaced about 45 miles apart. An 8th service plaza is on the Homestead Extension of the Turnpike. Each plaza has a Citgo gasoline station. The plazas are open 24 hours per day, most having Burger King or other fast food restaurants although the plaza on the Homestead Extension only offers a convenience store. Other services include fuel, minor mechanical repairs, Internet access, travel and tourism info and tickets, picnic areas, TV news, gift shops with Florida Lottery, restrooms, and public phones. SunPass transponders are available at all locations in the gift shop. There is also an assortment of vending machines for candy, soft drinks and ice cream.

Florida state legislators have announced their intention to do business with a different gasoline vendor following comments made to the United Nations by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.^[2] Citgo is owned by the Government of Venezuela.^[3]

Plazas are at the following locations along the turnpike:

• Pompano Beach plaza - Milepost 64
• Lake Worth plaza - Milepost 94
• Port St. Lucie plaza - Milepost 144
• Fort Drum plaza - Milepost 184
• Canoe Creek plaza - Milepost 229
• Turkey Lake plaza - Milepost 263
• Okahumpka plaza - Milepost 299

[edit] Trivia

The 51 mile (82 km) stretch of Florida's Turnpike south from exit 244 in Kissimmee to exit 193 in Yeehaw Junction is the longest stretch of controlled access highway in the United States without an exit, though there is a service area approximately midway (Canoe Creek Service Plaza). A new exit opened at mile marker 240 in December 2006 and may have changed this distinction.

Travel between Exits 304 and 309 is considered to be a "free movement" as there is no toll for anyone traveling only within this section.

In 1998, the Florida Legislature designated the turnpike the Ronald Reagan Turnpike, after the 40th U.S. President. However, this designation did not replace the turnpike's existing name, only appearing on a few signs along the route.

[edit] Intelligent Transportation Systems

Florida's Turnpike Enterprise is currently implementing an Intelligent Transportation System which consists of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras, Dynamic Message Signs (DMS), Highway Advisory Radios (HAR), & Radar Vehicle Detection Systems (RVDS). All of the systems mentioned as Intelligent Transportation Systems, or ITS, are managed by two Traffic Management Centers (TMC), one located in Pompano Beach, Florida, and the other located in Ocoee, Florida, just north of Orlando. The Traffic Management Centers monitor the roadways operated by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

ITS devices (CCTV, DMS, HAR, & RVDS) are used to detect and manage incidents on the Enterprise's roadways. CCTV cameras allow the TMC to see anything from congestion to crashes, to disabled vehicles that may pose a threat to the Turnpike's motorists. When an incident occurs that may affect Turnpike motorists, the TMC will activate the Dynamic Message Signs (DMS) and Highway Advisory Radios (HAR) to alert motorists of the potential situation.

[edit] Road Rangers

Florida's Turnpike Enterprise and State Farm have partnered to provide free roadside service through the State Farm Safety Patrol, also known as Road Rangers. The Safety Patrol operates 15 zones on Florida's Turnpike from the Homestead Extension in South Florida, up the Turnpike Mainline to I-75 in Wildwood. Utility trucks, and in some cases light wreckers, patrol designated zones looking for stranded motorists to provide services services as fuel, tire changes, use of a cellular phone, and others, and also looking for hazards such as road debris and crashes. The State Farm Safety Patrol is dipatched by the Traffic Management Center to accidents, debris removal, disabled vehicles, or anything that may potentially affect the traveling public. They are also equipped to assist the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) with incidents involving blockage of lanes, as they carry cones and are trained for Maintenance of Traffic (MOT).

[edit] Current plans

Currently the Mainline of Florida's Turnpike is six lanes wide from Golden Glades to milepost 80, and four lanes for the remainder of its length. Current construction projects will extend the six-lane section northward to the Lantana Toll Plaza, making the entire Southern coin system at least six lanes wide. Work has also begun to widen the section from Exit 53 to Exit 66 to eight lanes.

Construction has also begun to widen the Turnpike to six lanes from US 441 to Interstate 4 in Orlando. Future plans will extend the six-lane section northward to SR 429. [1]

Plans are currently under way to reconstruct Exit 309 in order to prevent weaving along Interstate 75 between SR 44 and the northern entrance of the Turnpike. This is a joint effort between Florida's Turnpike Enterprise and District #5 of the Florida Department of Transportation.

[edit] Other roads

Florida's Turnpike Enterprise also operates a number of other toll roads:

• Beachline Expressway (Beeline Expressway) (State Road 528)
• Polk Parkway (State Road 570)
• Sawgrass Expressway (State Road 869)
• Seminole Expressway (State Road 417)
• Southern Connector (State Road 417)
• Suncoast Parkway (State Road 589)
• Veterans Expressway (State Road 568 and State Road 589)
• Western Beltway (State Road 429)

[edit] Exit list

Today, all exits on Florida's Turnpike are milage-based from the south end of the Homestead Extension. Once the HEFT reaches the mainline, the mainline continues the numbering. The spur of the mainline from the HEFT to the Golden Glades Interchange assumes an alternate numbering system that suffixes an X to each exit number.

Any exit or location in parentheses that does not have an exit number—the number indicates the approximate mile of the location.

All tolls described assume the toll is paid in cash. If using SunPass, there is usually a $.25 discount for tolls. Exceptions will be noted.

Number		Destinations	Notes
	Old
		Interstate 95/U.S. Route 441/State Road 826 - Beaches	Golden Glades Interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance
(0X)	1	Golden Glades barrier toll	Toll $1.00
2X	2	Northwest 199th Street - Stadium
4X	4	Florida's Turnpike south - Homestead	southbound SR 91 takes exit 47A from the Turnpike mainline
49	8	State Road 820 - Hollywood Boulevard/Pines Boulevard.	Toll $.50
53		State Road 818 - Griffin Road	Toll $.25 (No SunPass discount)
54	12	Interstate 595/State Road 84/U.S. Route 441 - Fort Lauderdale
58	16	State Road 838 - Sunrise Boulevard	Toll $.50
62	20	State Road 870 - Commercial Boulevard	Toll $.75
(63)		Cypress Creek barrier toll	Toll $1.00
(64)		Pompano Beach service plaza
66		State Road 814 - Atlantic Boulevard	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
67	24	Coconut Creek Parkway/Martin Luther King Boulevard (State Road 849)	Toll $.50
69	26	State Road 834 - Sample Road	Toll $.25 (No SunPass discount)
71		State Road 869 south - Sawgrass Expressway - Coral Springs/Key West
75	28	State Road 808 - Glades Road	Toll $.25 (No SunPass discount)
81	32	State Road 806 - Atlantic Avenue	Toll $.50 (No SunPass discount)
86	34	State Road 804 / Boynton Beach Boulevard - Boynton Beach	Toll $.75
(88)		Lantana barrier toll
93	36	State Road 802 - Lake Worth
(94)		Lake Worth-West Palm Beach service plaza
97		State Road 80/U.S. Route 98 - Southern Boulevard
98	NEW	Jog Road	New, partial SunPass-only interchange scheduled to open in summer 2007 will have a southbound on-ramp and a northbound off-ramp
99		State Road 704 / Okeechobee Boulevard - West Palm Beach
107		State Road 710 - Bee Line Highway	SunPass-only interchange opened August 2006
109	44	State Road 786 - Palm Beach Gardens
116	48	State Road 706 - Jupiter/Okeechobee
133	52	State Road 714 - Stuart
138	NEW	Becker Road	New, SunPass-only interchange scheduled to open in January 2007
142		Port St. Lucie
(144)		Port St. Lucie/Fort Pierce service plaza (within Port St. Lucie city boundaries)
152	56	State Road 70 - Fort Pierce/Vero Beach/Okeechobee
(184)		Fort Drum service plaza
193	60	State Road 60/U.S. Route 441 - Yeehaw Junction/Lake Wales/Vero Beach
(229)		Canoe Creek service plaza
(236)		Three Lakes barrier toll
240	NEW	Northbound on and Southbound off, SunPass-only ramps to Kissimmee Park Road	Opened December 2006 Toll $1.00
244	65	U.S. Route 192/U.S. Route 441 - Kissimmee/St. Cloud	Exit 242 northbound Toll $1.25
249		Osceola Parkway
254		State Road 528/U.S. Route 17/U.S. Route 92/U.S. Route 441 - Beachline/Orange Blossom Trail
255	NEW	Southbound, SunPass-only ramp to westbound and State Road 528/U.S. Route 17/U.S. Route 92/U.S. Route 441 - Beachline/Orange Blossom Trail via Consulate Drive
259	75	Interstate 4 - Downtown Orlando/Tampa
(263)		Turkey Lake service plaza
265		State Road 408 east - East-West Expressway - Orlando/Titusville	Was only southbound exit and northbound entrance until converted to full interchange August 2006.
267A		State Road 429Western Expressway - Apopka/Tampa
267B	80	State Road 50 - Ocoee
272		State Road 50 - Winter Garden/Clermont
285	85	U.S. Route 27/State Road 19 - Leesburg/Clermont	northbound exit and southbound entrance
(288)		Leesburg barrier toll
289		U.S. Route 27/State Road 19 - Tavares/Clermont	southbound exit and northbound entrance
296	County Road 470 - Okahumpka
(299)		Okahumpka service plaza
304		U.S. Route 301 - Wildwood/Bushnell
(309)		Interstate 75 north	northbound exit and southbound entrance

[edit] References

1. ^ FDOT GIS data
2. ^ Bussy, Jane. Politics at the pump. The Miami Herald, 21 November 2006. Accessed online 21 January 2007.
3. ^ About Citgo. Accessed 21 January 2007.

[edit] External links

• Florida's Turnpike Enterprise
• Florida's Turnpike Mainline Route Map (PDF)