State highway in Florida, United States
State Road 884 (SR 884), along with County Road 884 (CR 884), together create Lee County, Florida's primary east–west partially controlled access highway, linking Cape Coral in the western portion of the county to Lehigh Acres and Alva in the eastern portion. Currently, the highway consists of State Road 884, and two segments of County Road 884 on each end, and the entire highway is about 37.5 miles (60.4 km) long. The highway runs through the southern incorporated limits of the city of Fort Myers and through the mid part of Cape Coral, and has become a major commuter route.
Route description
County Road 884 (Cape Coral and Fort Myers)
County Road 884 begins in Cape Coral as Veterans Parkway, a limited-access highway, heading south from the intersection with SR 78 and then turning east, with an interchange at Del Prado Boulevard (County Road 867A). After crossing the Caloosahatchee River on the Midpoint Bridge into Fort Myers the highway, it is known as Colonial Boulevard, a controlled-access road. Following intersections with McGregor Boulevard (SR 867), and Summerlin Road (CR 869), it has an interchange at Cleveland Avenue (Tamiami Trail-U.S. Route 41), where it becomes State Road 884.
State Road 884
State Road 884 begins at the eastern end of the Tamiami Trail intersection, heading east through the southern end of Fort Myers. The route intersects State Road 739 (Metro Parkway) and passes by the Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium before interchanging with Interstate 75 west of Lehigh Acres. State Road 884 officially ends just east of I-75 at Dynasty Drive.[4]
County Road 884 (Lehigh Acres and Alva)
The eastern half of CR 884 begins where SR 884 left off, heading east towards an intersection with SR 82 in Lehigh Acres, and becomes Lee Boulevard. It eventually becomes Leeland Heights Boulevard before turning north on Joel Boulevard. The road terminates at an intersection with Palm Beach Boulevard (SR 80) near Alva.
History
Colonial Boulevard was an early city street that ran from McGregor Boulevard (SR 867) to US 41 (Tamiami Trail). It was extended from US 41 to Fowler Street in the early 1960s.[5] The opening of the Edison Mall in 1965 at the corner of US 41 brought additional traffic to Colonial Boulevard, which was widened to four lanes in the early 1970s.[6][7]
As Interstate 75 was being planned though Southwest Florida in the 1970s, plans were also made to extend Colonial Boulevard to the freeway.[8] The extension of Colonial Boulevard from Fowler Street to Ortiz Avenue (SR 80B at the time) opened on October 7, 1976.[9] Colonial Boulevard would connect with Interstate 75 when the freeway opened in 1979, which completed the state-controlled segment of SR 884 as it is today. The state widened Colonial Boulevard from SR 739 (Metro Parkway) to Interstate 75 to six lanes in 1991.[10]
On October 15, 1990, Lee County opened a four-lane extension of Colonial Boulevard (CR 884) from Interstate 75 east to SR 82 at its intersection with Lee Boulevard, the primary east-west route through Lehigh Acres.[11] This segment was widened to six lanes in 2012.[12] Lee Boulevard previously existed as SR 82B while Joel Boulevard, Leeland Heights Boulevard, and Alabama Road were part of State Road 873 (SR 873). In the mid-1970s, Florida Department of Transportation designated them as secondary state roads. They were eventually redesignated as CR 884 when Colonial Boulevard was extended to Lee Boulevard.[13][14]
At the other end, CR 884 was extended east of McGregor Boulevard into Cape Coral in 1997 with the completion of the Midpoint Memorial Bridge and Veterans Parkway, a limited-access highway with an interchange at Del Prado Boulevard (CR 867A). The construction of the Midpoint Bridge also led to the widening of Colonial Boulevard west of Metro Parkway to six lanes and the construction of overpasses over US 41 and McGregor Boulevard.[15] Veterans Parkway initially ran as far as Santa Barbara Boulevard, but it was extended to Pine Island Road (SR 78) by 2002.[16]
In the late 2000s, improvements were planned for the corridor between Chiquita Boulevard in Cape Coral and I-75, which included additional overpasses and express lanes. The plans were later abandoned due to local opposition.[17]
Future
The Florida Department of Transportation is currently rebuilding the Interstate 75 interchange as a diverging diamond interchange. The project is also rebuilding the adjacent intersections with CR 865 (Ortiz Avenue/Six Mile Cypress Parkway) to the west as a continuous flow intersection and Forum Boulevard to the east as a and a superstreet intersection.[18]
Major intersections
The entire route is in Lee County.
SR 78 / CR 78 / CR 765 in Lehigh Acres
US 41 in Fort Myers
I-75 in Fort Myers
SR 82 in Fort Myers
SR 80 in Alva
