Skip to main content

Florida State Road 60 over Courtney Campbell Causeway

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.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Old River Lock & Control Structure (Lettsworth, LA)

  The Old River Control Structure (ORCS) and its connecting satellite facilities combine to form one of the most impressive flood control complexes in North America. Located along the west bank of the Mississippi River near the confluence with the Red River and Atchafalaya River nearby, this structure system was fundamentally made possible by the Flood Control Act of 1928 that was passed by the United States Congress in the aftermath of the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927 however a second, less obvious motivation influenced the construction here. The Mississippi River’s channel has gradually elongated and meandered in the area over the centuries, creating new oxbows and sandbars that made navigation of the river challenging and time-consuming through the steamboat era of the 1800s. This treacherous area of the river known as “Turnbull’s Bend” was where the mouth of the Red River was located that the upriver end of the bend and the Atchafalaya River, then effectively an outflow

Interstate 10S and the original Interstate 110 in California

Interstate 10S is a short spur of Interstate 10 along San Bernardino Freeway in downtown Los Angeles.  Interstate 10S begins at the Santa Ana Freeway (US Route 101) and extends east to Interstate 5 where it merges into mainline Interstate 10.  Interstate 10S is one of the oldest freeway segments in Los Angeles having been part of US Routes 60, 70 and 99 when it was part of the corridor of the Ramona Expressway.  The current corridor of Interstate 10S was assigned as Chargeable Corridor H following the passage of the 1956 Federal Highway Aid Act.  Interstate 110 was a short-lived designation which comprised the segment San Bernardino Freeway from US Route 101 to Interstate 5 between 1964-1968.  The original Interstate 110 was dropped as a Chargeable Corridor during 1965 and consolidated as Interstate 10S during 1968.   The original Interstate 110 can be seen as the blog cover photo as it was featured on the 1964 Division of Highways Map.  Below the entire 0.65-mile length of Interstate

Vicksburg Bridge (Vicksburg, MS)

  Located a few hundred feet downriver from the Old Vicksburg Bridge, the Vicksburg Bridge, or the “New” Bridge, serves as the city’s vehicular crossing of the Mississippi River on the main highway connecting Vicksburg with northeastern Louisiana to the west and the state capital of Jackson to the east. The completion of the original Vicksburg Bridge in 1930 was seen as a huge success and the bridge proved to be a profitable entity for both road and railroad interests along the path of the Dixie Overland Highway and the subsequent US Highway 80 corridor. In the years after the creation of the National Interstate Highway System, planning commenced on a new bridge at the site that would relieve the congestion on the existing bridge while providing for a more modern crossing of the river that would be safe for all vehicles. The construction of the new bridge at Vicksburg was completed in 1973 and its design intentionally mimics that of its predecessor nearby. This was due in large part