Florida State Road A19A

State Road A19A is a loop in the St. Petersburg, Florida, area that currently consists of the entirety of the north-south SR 693 (66th Street), a stretch of SR 699 in and near St. Pete Beach, and the entirety of SR 682 (a part of the toll Pinellas Bayway). The northern terminus of A19A is an intersection with US 19 (SR 55); the southern terminus is an interchange with Interstate 275/US 19/SR 93 just north of the Sunshine Skyway. Cities and communities served by A19A include (from north to south) Pinellas Park, Kenneth City, South Pasadena, St. Pete Beach, and St, Petersburg.

For two decades after the opening of the Pinellas Bayway on December 23, 1962, “A19A” signs lined the entire route (the east-west Pinellas Bayway originally had only SR A19A signs, while the other two parts had the A19A signs alongside – or above – the other, older State Road designation), but in the mid 1980s the Florida Department of Transportation removed them as part of a statewide reorganization of the State Roads system and gave the Pinellas Bayway its current designation. While FDOT no longer maintains an “A19A”, the numbering is still used locally (Pinellas County ordinances list A19A as synonymous for 66th Street south of Alternate US 19, and many commercial enterprises still refer to the Pinellas Bayway as “A19A” in their advertisements).

Noteworthy places near (or accessible to) A19A include Pass-a-Grille Beach, the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum, Fort DeSoto State Park (on the southern tip of State Road 682, the north-south section of the Pinellas Bayway), and the campus of Eckerd College.

Despite the similar numbering, comparisons with SR A1A can lead to faulty conclusions. While the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida have seven discontinuous segments of A1A traveling along them, there is no such “continuity” on the longer Gulf coast. The Gulf Coast barrier islands feature the following State Roads:

• SR 951 (and Collier County Road 92/former State Road 92) – Marco Island

• SR 865 – Estero Island (Bonita Beach to Fort Myers Beach)

• SR 767 (now Lee County Road 767) – Pine Island (Saint James City to Bokeelia)

• SR 771 (now Charlotte County Road 771) – Gasparilla Island (Boca Grande)

• SR 758 – Casey Key and Siesta Key (Crescent Beach)

• SR 789 – Longboat Key (Sarasota to Holmes Beach)

• SR 679 (part of Pinellas Bayway) – Mullet Key and Cabbage Key (Tierra Verde)

• SR 699 – St. Pete Beach to Indian Rocks Beach (the road continues northward as Pinellas County Road 699 to Clearwater Beach)

• SR 300 (originally SR G1A) – St. George Island

• SR 30E (now Gulf County Road 30E) – St. Joseph Peninsula State Park)

• SR 30/US 98 – Santa Rosa Beach to Fort Walton Beach

• SR 399 (now Escambia County Road 399) – Navarre Beach to Pensacola Beach

• SR 292 – Perdido Key

While SR A1A received its current designation after people were confusing the original “SR 1” with nearby U.S. Route 1 (and US 1A/Alternate US 1 was also near the State Road), the SR A19A designation was the original numbering of the Pinellas Bayway. Since A19A branches off Alternate US 19 and connects with the parent route US 19, a likely explanation for the numbering is for the loop to represent “Alternate (U.S. Highway) 19 Alternate,” or “Alternate (U.S. Highway) 19A.”