State Road 78 (SR 78) is the Florida Department of Transportation designation of the highway that historically extended from Pine Island Center on the Gulf Coast of Florida to the northern tip of Lake Okeechobee. In the 1980s, two segments of the route (including a segment in Lee County and a separate segment spanning Lee and Hendry counties) were removed from state maintenance to county maintenance and both were redesignated County Road 78 (CR 78). All three sections of SR 78 are signed east–west, even though the easternmost section is actually a north–south route.
Route description
Western section
The historic western terminus of SR 78 is located on Pine Island at Stringfellow Road (CR 767) in Pine Island Center. From here, the route runs east as CR 78 and it is locally known as Pine Island Road. It crosses the Pine Island Causeway on to the main land in Cape Coral. Less than two miles after entering Cape Coral, CR 78 intersects with Burnt Store Road (CR 765) and Veterans Parkway (CR 884). The western segment of SR 78 begins at this intersection.[2]
At SR 31, another section of CR 78 begins less than 2 miles to the north. This segment, known as North River Road runs east along the north side of the Caloosahatchee River to Alva, and North LaBelle.
The 14-mile-long central east–west section of SR 78 extends from SR 29 four miles (6 km) northeast of North LaBelle to an intersection with US 27/SR 25 midway between Citrus Center and Moore Haven. In between is the town of Ortona. The central section of SR 78 is entirely within a part of Glades County dedicated to the growth of foliage house plants.
SR 78 then runs concurrently with US 27 east 4 miles to the eastern section (though this concurrency is signed sparingly).[3]
Okeechobee (eastern) section
The 34-mile-long easternmost section of SR 78 is signed east–west, even though the bulk of the road is north–south. This stretch follows the western and northern edge of the Lake Okeechobeewetlands. The southern (“western”) terminus of this segment is an intersection with US 27/SR 25 near Moore Haven. Motorists driving “east” (actually north) on SR 78, travel through Sportsman Village before visiting the Brighton Seminole Indian Reservation and Buckhead Ridge before reaching the northern (“eastern”) terminus, an intersection with US 98 (SR 700)-US 441 (SR 15) near Eagle Bay in the northern tip of Lake Okeechobee, roughly three miles to the south of Okeechobee.
History
SR 78 was made up of a number of former state roads that were added to the State Highway System in the 1930s.[4][5][6] Some of these state roads were previously cattle trails and ox-wagon routes that dated back to the Civil War.[7] During the 1945 Florida State Road renumbering, the full route from Pine Island to Okeechobee was unified as a single route and designated SR 78. The route would also have brief concurrencies with SR 29 near LaBelle and SR 31 near Olga. SR 31 originally crossed the Caloosahatchee River on a swing bridge in Olga and was concurrent with SR 78 from Olga for 3 miles west before turning north to Arcadia.[8]
In the 1950s, much of SR 78 in North Fort Myers was rebuilt and straightened. In 1954, two miles of SR 78 from SR 31 west was rerouted with the new alignment running south from SR 31 toward the Caloosahatchee River (near the current location of the Lee Civic Center) then turning west. The original alignment then became Old Bayshore Road.[9][7] In April 1959, SR 78 was realigned from Daughtry Creek to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad crossing in North Fort Myers. The original alignment is now Samville Road.[10]
In 1960, SR 31 was changed to run concurrent with SR 78 from North River Road south to the newly-built Wilson Pigott Bridge which replaced SR 31's previous bridge in Olga.[11]
In the late 1970s, FDOT started to put into motion a sequence of events that ultimately resulted in the removal of dozens of miles of roadway from the State maintenance list to county maintenance. Entire State Roads disappeared as their FDOT designations were replaced by County Road signage, while other State Roads had only parts become County Roads (usually with no change in the numbering). In the 1980s, two sections of SR 78 were transitioned to county maintenance:
The westernmost six miles (from Pine Island Center to Cape Coral) of Pine Island Road became County Road 78. It runs from CR 767 (Stringfellow Road) on Pine Island east over the Matlacha Bridge onto the mainland in northwest Cape Coral, where it connect to SR 78.
North River Road (22 miles of zigzagging road along the north bank of the Caloosahatchee River from SR 31 near Babcock Ranch to SR 29 near LaBelle) was also converted to County Road 78. Brief concurrencies with both SR 31 and SR 29 were also removed.
County Road 78A is a spur road off of State Road 78 between Cape Coral and North Fort Myers locally known as Pondella Road. It provides a quicker way for motorists traveling east on CR 78 to access Downtown Fort Myers. The road was known as SR 78A before 1980.
CR 765 / CR 884 in Cape Coral
SR 31 near Fort Myers Shores
SR 29 near LaBelle
US 27 near Moore Haven
US 98 / US 441 in Okeechobee
