Skip to main content

Florida State Road 60 over Courtney Campbell Causeway

By
One of the goals of my recent Florida trip was to drive over all the highway bridges over Old Tampa Bay.  After completing Interstate 275 I returned to Tampa and turned west on Florida State Road 60 towards Courtney Campbell Causeway.


Courtney Campbell Causeway is a 9.9 causeway bridging structure carrying FL 60 west from Rocky Point in Tampa over Old Tampa Bay to Clearwater.   Courtney Campbell Causeway was constructed by a local dredging company owned by Ben T. David from 1927 through early 1934.  Courtney Campbell Causeway opened in January of 1934 as Davis Causeway and had a $0.25 cent toll.  The Davis Causeway cost $900,000 dollars to build and was the longest structure of it's kind at the time of it's completion.

The Davis Causeway appears on this 1939 Florida State Road Map as a privately held toll road.

1939 Florida State Road Map

In 1944 Davis Causeway was purchased by Federal Public Works Administration and Florida State Road Department for $1,085,000.  The Federal Public Works Administration turned over their share to the Florida State Road Department which assumed maintenance of Davis Causeway and removed the toll.  In 1945 FL 60 was assigned to the Davis Causeway during the Florida State Road renumbering.  In 1948 Davis Causeway was re-designated as Courtney Campbell Causeway.  Courtney Campbell was a local Clearwater resident who was a U.S. Representative and member of the Florida Road Board.

Modern FL 60 is routed west from Dale Mabry Highway/US 92 on Kennedy Boulevard.  At the I-275 junction FL 60 west becomes a short freeway which passes by Tampa International Airport and the south terminus of FL 589 on the Veterans Expressway.  My approach onto FL 60 west was from I-275 westbound.





Signage on FL 60 implies a multiplex with FL 589 given the exit numbers are concurrent with the latter.  FL 60 continues west towards Courtney Campbell Causeway on Exit 2A.









The original access point used by FL 60 west to Courtney Campbell Causeway was on Columbus Drive from Dale Mabry Highway/US 92.  Columbus Drive still partially exists west of US 92 but most of it has largely been razed for expansion of Tampa International Airport.

FL 60 west on Courtney Campbell Causeway enters Rocky Point which essentially is now an island.


FL 60 has post miles on Courtney Campbell Causeway indicating how far away the end of the bridge structure is.  Below FL 60 west at Rocky Point is shown 7.5 miles away from the western end of Courtney Campbell Causeway.


FL 60 west on Courtney Campbell Causeway has access to several beaches.  Ben T. Davis beach is located immediately west of Rocky Point and is a nice call back to the original builder of the Causeway.


FL 60 and Courtney Campbell Causeway has raised parts of the bridge structure to allow boats to pass underneath.







FL 60 west on Courtney Campbell Causeway approaching the Pinellas County line becomes a Scenic Highway.  Shortly after crossing the Pinellas County line FL 60 west is signed as the "Purple Heart Trail."




FL 60 west on Courtney Campbell Causeway has one additional open water crossing before entering Clearwater.






I continued west on FL 60 into Clearwater which quickly junctions CR 611.


I continued on FL 60 west until US 19 where I turned north towards Tarpon Springs.




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

May 2023 Ontario Trip (Part 3 of 3)

By
  Over the years, I have made plenty of trips to Ontario, crisscrossing the southern, central and eastern parts of the province. Living in Upstate New York, it's pretty easy to visit our neighbor to the north, or is that our neighbor to the west? Ottawa is one of my favorite cities to visit anywhere in the world, plus I've discovered the charm of Kingston, the waterfalls of Hamilton (which is on the same Niagara Escarpment that brings us Niagara Falls), the sheer beauty of the Bruce Peninsula, and more. But I hadn't explored much of Cottage Country. So I decided to change that, and what better time to go than over Memorial Day weekend, when the daylight is long and I have an extra day to explore. On the third and final day of my trip, I started in Huntsville and made my way through Muskoka District and Haliburton County, passing by many lakes along the way. I stopped in towns such as Dorset, Haliburton and Bancroft before making a beeline down to Belleville and then over th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Abandoned Fowler Avenue in Clovis, California

By
Originally Fowler Avenue in the city of Clovis had a brief discontinuation approaching Herndon Avenue.  Fowler Avenue traffic heading northbound was required to detour briefly onto westbound Herndon Avenue.  During 2001 this discontinuation was removed when Fowler Avenue was reconfigured to access the Sierra Freeway (California State Route 168) via an interchange.  This led to a segment of the original alignment of Fowler Avenue just south of Herndon Avenue to be abandoned.  Despite a shopping center opening over part of the original Fowler Avenue alignment in 2016 much of the abandoned roadway remains.   The history of the abandoned original alignment of Fowler Avenue in Clovis The original alignment of California State Route 168 departed downtown Clovis eastbound along Tollhouse Road.  This original alignment did not interact with Fowler Avenue at the Herndon Avenue intersection.  Fowler Avenue north of Tollhouse Road ran north to Herndon Avenue...
Post a Comment
Read more

California State Route 78

By
California State Route 78 is a 194-mile east/west State Highway located in southern California.  California State Route 78 begins at Interstate 5 in Oceanside of San Diego County and terminates at Interstate 10 near Blythe of Riverside County.  California State Route 78 between Interstate 5 and Interstate 15 is aligned on the Ronald Packard Parkway over the corridor traditionally known as the Anza Freeway.  California State Route 78 east of Interstate 15 climbs over mountain grades into the Sonoran Desert where it become a largely rural highway.  The blog cover photo above is California State Route 78 on Vista Avenue between Oceanside and Vista as seen in the 1955 California Highways & Public Works.   Part 1; the history of California State Route 78 Disclaimer; the pre-State Highway history and Glamis Road elements of this blog are sourced from newspaper references attributed to AAroads forum user rschen7754 .  User rschen7754 was the primary Wikip...
Post a Comment
Read more