Florida State Road 972

State Road 972, part of the historic road Coral Way, is a short east-west divided highway entirely within the city of Miami, Florida, USA. Its current western terminus is Douglas Road (Southwest 37th Avenue); its eastern terminus is U.S. Route 1 (SR 5) in the Brickell area of Miami. Although it has had the FDOT designation as a State Road only since 1980 (and as State Road 956 until 1983), Coral Way has been an important route for Miami for much longer: it was a main street for the short-lived city of Silver Bluff, which merged with Miami in 1926.

Currently SR 972 is routed on Southwest 22d Street from Douglas Road to Southwest 12th Avenue (SR 933) in the Five Points neighborhood, then on Southwest 3rd Avenue between Southwest 12th Avenue and Southwest 13th Street, and on Southwest 13th Street between Southwest 3rd Avenue and Brickell Avenue (US 1).

Beauty

In addition to being a major artery, SR 972 is noted for its spreading banyan trees in the median throughout much of its length. Arching branches with aerial roots extend from sidewalk to sidewalk.

Changes

Originally, SR 972 extended seven miles further west along Southwest 24th Street to Southwest 107th Avenue (SR 985), near Tamiami Park and Florida International University. A series of truncations started in the late 1990s, first moving the western terminus two miles eastward to SR 973 (Galloway Road/Southwest 87th Avenue), then another 4.5 miles to SR 953 (LeJeune Road) in Coral Gables -- the exit signs on the Palmetto Expressway were replaced with ones without the State Road designation in 2001 -- and, at the request of businesses along the Miracle Mile stretch of Coral Way, a final move of the western terminus one-half mile to its current location. Ironically, the final move re-established SR 972 on the original, pre-1926 configuration of Coral Way (many commercially-prepared maps still show an intersection with LeJeune Road as the western terminus).

In the years after the merger of Silver Bluff and Miami, Coral Way has been extended many times. Westward from SR 972, it now travels along Southwest 24th Street (Miracle Mile in eastern Coral Gables) until after passing under Florida's Turnpike, rounding a gentle chicane, and following Southwest 26th Street until its current terminus just west of Southwest 162nd Avenue. Although the newer sections of Coral Way west of Coral Gables do not have the scenery or the history of the current SR 972, they form an extremely important commercial link for Miami-Dade County.

Current Information

The eastern terminus is at Brickell Avenue (U.S. Route 1) in the downtown Miami Financial District. It is Southeast 13th Street (SR 972) from Biscayne Boulevard west for one block until it crosses Miami Avenue, where it becomes Southwest 13th Street.

It is a 2-lane dual direction main road in downtown Miami from Brickell Avenue until it crosses Broadway (SW 15th Road) and curves to the southwest as is goes under I-95. At this point it becomes a 4-lane divided road (Southwest 3rd Avenue) with many old ficus and banyan trees in its median. This is where the historical scenic drive of Coral Way begins. There is a sign marking this.

It continues southwest through the city of Miami as Southwest 3rd Avenue until it curves due west and becomes Southwest 22nd Street.

It continues west through the city of Miami until it crosses Douglas Road (Southwest 37th Avenue) and enters the city of Coral Gables. This is the western terminus of SR 972.

For half a mile (between Douglas Road and LeJeune Road or Southwest 42nd Avenue) it is the major east-west road through downtown Coral Gables and is known also as Miracle Mile. It is still divided by a median, although along this stretch the median has large date palm trees and flower beds.

After crossing LeJeune Road, it is one-way westbound for two blocks until crossing Segovia Street, where it is again two-way, but without a median.

After crossing Segovia Street, it borders the Granada Golf Course for two blocks until it enters a residential area after crossing South Greenway Drive/Anderson Road. From this point west it is covered by large oak, mahogany and other hardwood trees which form a natural canopy from each side of the road.

It continues west through the city of Coral Gables with its natural tree canopy until it crosses Red Road (Southwest 57th Avenue) and emerges into unincorporated Miami-Dade County as Coral Way and Southwest 24th Street.

It continues west as SW 24th Street through Miami-Dade County until a short distance after crossing the Florida Turnpike (after Southwest 117th Avenue) where it curves slightly farther south and becomes Southwest 26th Street.

It continues west through Miami-Dade County as SW 26th Street until its western terminus at Southwest 157th Avenue.

History

The Coral Way Corridor was built in 1922, connecting the city of Miami to Coral Gables with citrus lined streets. A few years later streetcar tracks were laid down the middle. In 1929 a roadside beautification program was started and 1200 banyan trees were planted along it. [ [http://www.ci.miami.fl.us/nets/pages/CoralWay/CoralWay.asp City of Miami-Neighborhood Enhancement Teams] ]

References

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