Florida State Road 826

State Road 826
Palmetto Expressway
Route information
Maintained by FDOT
Length:	29.938 mi[1][2] (48.181 km) 24.71 miles (39.77 km) expressway section
Existed:	June 1961 (freeway) – present
Major junctions
South end:	US 1 / SR 5 in Pinecrest
	SR 874 near Kendall SR 836 near Doral I-75 / SR 93 / SR 924 in Hialeah I-95 / SR 9 / SR 9A in Miami Gardens Turnpike / SR 91 in Miami Gardens US 441 / SR 7 in Miami Gardens US 1 / SR 5 in North Miami Beach
North end:	SR A1A in Sunny Isles Beach
Location
Counties:	Miami-Dade
Highway system
Florida State and County Roads Interstate • US • SR (Pre-1945) • Toll • County ← SR 825 SR 827 →

State Road 826, also known as the Palmetto Expressway, is a bypass route around the greater Miami area, extending 24.7 miles (39.8 km) from U.S. Route 1 (SR 5) in Pinecrest, going through the inner Miami suburbs in a north-east semicircle to the Golden Glades Interchange, reverting to a surface street (Northeast 163rd Street) to its terminus at Florida State Road A1A in Sunny Isles Beach. Interstate 95 (SR 9 and 9A) and the Palmetto Expressway are the two most-heavily traveled roads in Miami-Dade County.^{[citation needed]}

Route description

The Palmetto Expressway northbound near Hialeah in metropolitan Miami

The expressway begins on an intersection with US 1 in Pinecrest, just south of Dadeland Mall. The road heads north into Kendall, with the first interchange being with Kendall Drive, providing access to the mall. It continues north, crossing under the Snapper Creek Expressway before an interchange with SR 986. It leaves Kendall, continuing into Glenvar Heights, with an interchange with SW 56th Street/Miller Drive, which provides access to the University of Miami. It is followed by the northern terminus of the Don Shula Expressway, with a southbound exit and a northbound entrance point. It continues north into Coral Way Village, where it interchanges with SR 976, followed shortly with an exit with SW 24th Street/Coral Way.

The expressway's next exit to the north is with Tamiami Trail (US 41), providing access to Florida International University. The Palmetto then has an exit with Flagler Street, the east-west median for Miami-Dade County roads. The freeway then has an interchange with the Dolphin Expressway just south of Doral, creating access to Miami International Airport. This interchange is currently being improved due to the current configuration causing severe congestion. The next exit is NW 25th Street, which connects to the western end of the airport, followed by an exit with SR 948, that links to the Doral Golf Resort and Spa, and then an exit with NW 58th Street. Heading north, the expressway reaches an interchange with SR 934 that goes into Medley, followed by a diagonal interchange with US 27/SR 25 at the southern end of Hialeah Gardens and Hialeah. It then enters Hialeah, with an interchange with SR 932, accessing Westland Mall, followed by an exit with NW 122nd Street.

At the boundary between Hialeah and Miami Lakes, there is an interchange between the national southern terminus of I-75 and the western terminus of SR 924. The Palmetto Expressway goes into Miami Lakes, with an interchange with NW 154 Street, followed by a 90 degree turn, with the road going straight east, still in Miami Lakes, with an interchange with NW 67th Avenue. At the next exit, SR 823, the expressway enters Miami Gardens, with the next exit being SR 847. The expressway then passes through Florida Memorial University before the NW 37th Avenue exit, where it creates the northeast border with St. Thomas University.

Still in Miami Gardens, it has exits with SR 817, NW 17th Avenue and NW 12th Avenue before the Golden Glades Interchange, where it intersects with Florida's Turnpike, I-95 and US 441/SR 7. After the interchange, it reverts to a surface street (Northeast 167th Street), entering North Miami Beach, intersecting with SR 915, curving to the southeast to become NE 163rd Street, meeting the Mall at 163rd Street, US 1, crossing the Intracoastal Waterway before ending at SR A1A in Sunny Isles Beach.^[3][4]

History

The Palmetto Expressway at Flagler Street facing westward circa 1960

State Road 826's designation originally applied to a two-lane road (Golden Glades Drive, Northwest 167th Street) connecting US-1 in North Miami Beach to US 27 (SR 25) to the west. In 1953, the newly-formed Florida Turnpike Authority presented plans for a four-lane bypass highway going around the Miami area.

In 1956, plans were unveiled for several expressways throughout Dade County. The routes proposed were a North-South Expressway (now part of I-95), an East-West Expressway (now the Dolphin Expressway), a 36th Street Expressway (now the Airport Expressway), the Biscayne Bay Malecon (a proposed downtown loop, never built), a Dixie Expressway (proposed; most was never built, a portion became I-95), and the Palmetto Road Expressway.^[5]

In 1957, Dade County Commissioner Ralph Fossey proposed an alternate alignment of the Palmetto Expressway. The new alignment would begin at Miller Road (SW 56 Street) and then turn southwesterly to follow the Seaboard Railroad tracks for about 10 miles. The route would then turn south at SW 117 Ave. and follow it into US 1.^[6]

Many south Miamians opposed the alternate alignment plan and began a petition to keep the original alignment. While the alternate route plan ultimately failed; eventually the Don Shula Expressway, a northeast-southwest expressway was built along the railroad tracks in the 1970s.

In 1958, the Florida State Roads Department started construction on the bypass expressway under their authority.^[7] A north–south section along Northwest (and Southwest) 77th Avenue (Palmetto Road) was built to connect US 1 in Pinecrest to an improved Golden Glades Drive (complete with 90 degree eastward turn) and the portion of Northwest 167th Street west of the curve would be abandoned. Many land owners were forced to sell their property to the county to make way for the construction of the expressway.^[8]

The Palmetto Expressway southbound at the SR 948 interchange near Doral

The Palmetto Bypass Expressway was opened in June 1961 at the cost of $30 million, four years after the opening of Florida's Turnpike and six months before the opening of Dade County's second expressway, the Airport Expressway (SR 112).^[9][10]

The completion of the Palmetto Expressway (the "Bypass" faded from public usage in the 1960s) and the building of Interstate 95 were the impetus of the construction of the massive Golden Glades Interchange involving Florida's Turnpike, US 441 (SR 7), Interstate 95, and SR 9.

When the Palmetto Expressway was first opened, it went through tracts of woodland and farmland which have since been urbanized. Originally there were four at-grade intersections in Hialeah and Miami Lakes which were either transformed into full interchanges or blocked off in the 1970s. In addition, increasing traffic loads on the Palmetto prompted plans for extending Florida's Turnpike to "bypass the bypass." In 1974, the Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike (SR 821) was opened to traffic four miles (6 km) to the west of the Palmetto to reduce the traffic demands on Miami's original bypass.

Future

A new overpass under construction at Miller Drive to alleviate congestion at the Bird Road exit

The Florida Department of Transportation is currently in the final stages of improving a 16.7 mile section of the expressway from the southern terminus to just north of the Northwest 154th street interchange, widening the highway by two lanes (from 8-10 lanes to 10-12 lanes), and improving the interchanges. Reconstruction of the Miller Drive and SR 976 (Bird Road) interchanges, including the Don Shula Expressway (State Road 874) interchange, began in 2008, and is scheduled to be completed in 2012. The Dolphin Expressway interchange construction began on November 30, 2009 and will be completed in 2015.^[11][12]

Exit list

The entire route is located in Miami-Dade County.

Location	Mile[1][2]	Destinations	Notes
Pinecrest	0.000	US 1 / SR 5 (South Dixie Highway)	Southern terminus
Kendall	0.858	SR 94 (Kendall Drive)
	1.857	SR 986 (Sunset Drive)
	2.876	SW 56th St, Miller Drive	To University of Miami
	3.432	SR 874 (Don Shula Expressway)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	3.932	SR 976 (Bird Road)
	4.984	SW 24th St, Coral Way	To Florida International University
	5.977	US 41 / SR 90 (SW 8th Street/Tamiami Trail)
	6.491	SR 968 (W Flagler Street)
	7.230	SR 836 (Dolphin Expressway)	To Miami International Airport
Doral	8.372	NW 25th Street	To Miami International Airport
	9.216	SR 948 (NW 36th Street)
	10.381	NW 58th Street
Medley	11.383	SR 934 (NW 74th Street)
Hialeah Gardens	12.310	US 27 (S River Drive / Okeechobee Road) / SR 25
	13.173	SR 932 (NW 103rd Street / W 49th Street)
Hialeah	14.374	NW 122nd Street, W 68th Street
	15.379	I-75 / SR 93 north – Naples SR 916 / SR 924 east
Miami Lakes	16.393	NW 154th Street
	18.006	NW 67th Avenue
	19.016	SR 823 (NW 57th Avenue)
Miami Gardens	20.047	SR 847 (NW 47th Avenue)
	21.048	NW 37th Avenue
	22.052	SR 817 (NW 27th Avenue)
	23.060	NW 17th Avenue
	23.485	NW 12th Avenue
	24.097	I-95 / SR 9 / SR 9A / Turnpike – Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando	Part of Golden Glades Interchange
	24.236	Turnpike / SR 91 – Orlando	Part of Golden Glades Interchange
	24.708	US 441 / SR 7	Part of Golden Glades Interchange
		Palmetto Expressway ends, becomes North Miami Beach Boulevard
North Miami Beach	25.708	SR 915 (NE 6th Avenue)
	27.918	US 1 (Biscayne Boulevard) / SR 5
		North Miami Beach Boulevard ends, becomes Sunny Isles Boulevard
Sunny Isles Beach	29.938	SR A1A (NW 57th Avenue)	Northern terminus

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Google Inc. (July 8, 2008). Google Earth (4.3.7284.3916) [beta]. Retrieved July 30, 2009. <http://earth.google.com/>
2. ^ ^{a b} "Florida Department of Transportation Interchange Report" (PDF). Florida Department of Transportation. 2008-11-24. pp. 15. http://www.dot.state.fl.us/planning/statistics/hwydata/interchange.pdf. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 
3. ^ Google, Inc. Google Maps – overview map of Palmetto Expressway (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Pinecrest+Pkwy&daddr=25.917765,-80.325025+to:Sunny+Isles+Blvd&geocode=FQDNhwEd5G82-w%3BFUV5iwEdX1Y2-yklzW9k16TZiDFBbWNuxHjdlg%3BFYuoiwEdaW85-w&hl=en&mra=ls&dirflg=t&sll=25.913431,-80.198822&sspn=0.074267,0.110378&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=11&via=1. Retrieved 2010-04-22. 
4. ^ Florida Department of Transportation (April 2007). General Highway Map Miami-Dade County, Florida (Map). http://www.dot.state.fl.us/surveyingandmapping/geomap/mida_c.pdf. Retrieved 2010-06-25. 
5. ^ "Questions on Expressway? - Here Are Some Answers". The Miami News 19 Dec 1956: 21A. Retrieved 16 April 2010
6. ^ "Dispute On By-Pass Blocks Work Start". The Miami News 20 Apr 1957: 8A. Retrieved 16 April 2010
7. ^ "Florida Pushes Road Improvements". New York Times 08 Dec 1957: XX13
8. ^ "Palmetto Road Suit Enters Final Stages". The Miami News 3 Mar 1957: 22A. Retrieved on 16 April 2010
9. ^ "Florida's New Palmetto Expressway". New York Times 18 Jun 1961: XX23
10. ^ "Miami's Highways Set". The Evening Independent 16 Jun 1961: 2
11. ^ "Palmetto Expressway Expansion Project" (PDF). Florida Department of Transportation. 2009-06-15. http://fdotpalmetto.com/pdf/Palmetto%20Expressway%20Project%20Overview.pdf. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 
12. ^ "Palmetto/Okeechobee: Project Information". http://fdotpalmetto.com/project.html. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 

External links

• Florida@SouthEast Roads-Florida 826
• Palmetto Expressway (SR 826) Projects