Skip to main content

2017 Southeast Trip Part 10; Monoliths and the road to the Tamiami Trail

Despite looping back to the Tampa Area my road trip was not over as I still had much of Southern Florida to explore.  Not wanting to take any I-75 after the previous two days I decided on an inland route south to US 41 on the Tamiami Trail east of Naples.


Leaving Hernando County I took the back roads to CR 541 and went south into Pasco County where it becomes CR 41.





As I mentioned much earlier in the trip blog series CR 41 was part of FL 41 and is probably the hilliest road in Florida.  The dips down the Brooksville Ridge approaching Dade City are gigantic.





I took US 301 to CR 35A the Old Lakeland Highway in Dade City.  US 301 didn't make it down to Florida until 1947 but I'm fairly certain it is an older alignment along with Chancey Road.  US 98 would likely have used the Old Lakeland Highway as well when it was shifted east to Palm Beach in 1952.  When I reached the overpass with US 98 I took a ramp up to it to continue towards Lakeland.







On US 98 at the boundary of Polk County is one of the old County Monoliths which served as entry markers.  The Monoliths were put in place in 1930 alongside well traveled roads that entered Polk County.  The Monoliths proclaim Polk County to be the "Citrus Center" which is odd considering it is mostly known for phosphate mining.  Early US 98 likely followed CR 54 east from Old Lakeland Highway given that Old Dade City Road is just to the south.







I'm fairly certain US 98 once entered Lakeland on Kathleen Road.  The alignment matches up to US 92 and the Old Dade City Highway.  For whatever reason I can't seem to find a reliable highway map from the World War II era of either Pasco or Polk Counties.

Entering Lakeland I passed the "infamous" I-4 (probably the most miserable freeway in the country in my opinion) and followed US 98 through town.  Exiting Lakeland to the south I passed under the FL 570 Toll Road.




I followed US 98 south to Bartow which I took onto a brief multiplex of FL 60 to US 17.  I followed US 17/98 out of Bartow.




US 98 splits away from US 17 in Fort Meade.  The alignment of US 98 east of Fort Meade is interesting in that it takes several graded 90 degree turns through the farm lands.  I continued south on US 17 since it is a quiet route and I wanted to try something a little off-beat from the norm.






I took US 17 south to Arcadia in DeSoto County.  I turned east briefly on FL 70 to the northern terminus of FL 31 where I turned south. 





FL 31 is only 36 miles long and terminates at FL 80 to the south in Fort Myers Shores.  Major junctions like FL 31 include; CR 760, CR 760A, CR 763, CR 74, CR 78, and FL 78.








Having really no other practical route south I took FL 80 west to I-75.  I took I-75 south to CR 951 in Collier County.  I used CR 951 south to reach US 41 where the Tamiami Trail opens up in the Big Cypress Reserve and Everglades.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The 1915-era Teilman Bridge (the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge in California)

The Teilman Bridge is a semi-abandoned structure over Fresno Slough west of Burrell siding near the intersection of Elkhorn Avenue and Elkhorn Grade.  This structure is the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge constructed in California and was designed by Ingvart Teilman.  Teilman's Bridge would open in late 1915 when the Elkhorn Grade was the primary road between Fresno and Coalinga.  The structure would be replaced in 1991 but was left standing as it carries pipelines over Fresno Slough.  Part 1; the history of the Teilman Bridge In the early Twentieth Century the most direct highway between Fresno and Coalinga followed the Elkhorn Grade.  The Elkhorn Grade began at Fresno Slough a short distance west of Burrell siding.  From Fresno Slough the Elkhorn Grade followed a generally southwestern course through San Joaquin Valley into the Kettleman Hills towards Coalinga.   The Elkhorn Grade can be seen on the  1914 C.F. Weber map of Fresno Coun...

The Dummy Lights of New York

  A relic of the early days of motoring, dummy lights were traffic lights  that  were  placed  in the middle of a street intersection. In those early days, traffic shuffled through busy intersections with the help of a police officer who stood on top of a pedestal. As technology improved and electric traffic signals became commonplace, they were also  originally  positioned on a platform at the center of the intersection. Those traffic signals became known as  " dummy lights "  and were common until  traffic lights were moved  onto wires and poles that crossed above the intersection.  In New York State, only a handful of these dummy lights exist. The dummy lights  are found  in the Hudson Valley towns of Beacon and Croton-on-Hudson, plus there is an ongoing tug of war in Canajoharie in the Mohawk Valley, where their dummy light has been knocked down and replaced a few times. The dummy light in Canajoharie is currently...

Prunedale Road (Monterey County)

Prunedale Road is a short 2.6-mile-long frontage corridor of US Route 101 in the namesake Monterey County community of Prunedale.  Prior to 1932 US Route 101 bypassed Prunedale in favor of the San Juan Grade to the east.  Prunedale Road along with nearby Moro Road served as an alternative connecting highway between Salinas and San Juan Bautista.  Following the realignment of US Route 101 onto the Prunedale Cutoff the former through route along Prunedale Road would be rendered as a western frontage.   Part 1; the history of Prunedale Road Prunedale Road is located in and is named after the Monterey County community of Prunedale.  Said community was founded near the junction of San Migeul Canyon, Langley Canyon and Echo Valley.  Watsonville settler Charles Langley (namesake of Langley Canyon) was one of the prominent early community settlers.  The Prunedale Post Office would open for the first time in 1894 but would close by 1908.  Early agricu...