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Florida State Road 869
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Florida State Road 869
Florida State Road 869 (SR 869) is a 24-mile-long (39 km) state road located in western and northern Broward County, acting as a de facto bypass of Fort Lauderdale as well as the northern coastal and southern parts of the county extending north from a junction of I-75 (SR 93), I-595 (SR 862) in Sunrise to Coral Springs where it heads eastward towards Florida's Turnpike and intersecting I-95 before terminating at Southwest 10th Avenue in Deerfield Beach. The 21.242-mile (34.186 km) section west of the Turnpike is known as the Sawgrass Expressway, a six-lane (soon to be ten-lane), controlled-access toll road; the 2.745-mile (4.418 km) section east of the Turnpike is a boulevard known as Southwest 10th Street. The expressway opened in 1986 and was added to Florida's Turnpike Enterprise in 1990. The at-grade section east of the Turnpike is maintained by FDOT.
The highway begins in Sunrise at the northern part of the Sawgrass Interchange, with I-75 on the southern and western ends (I-75 "north" leads into Alligator Alley on the west side) and the Port Everglades Expressway (I-595) on the eastern end. For the first 12 miles, the Everglades lies to the west of the expressway while newer residential and commercial developments all lie to the east. After a welcome sign, the expressway passes its lone free interchange to Sunrise Boulevard (SR 838), connecting to the Sawgrass Mills mall and passing through the Sunrise Toll Gantry, the first of two toll gantries on the road before reaching the exit for the Amerant Bank Arena, where the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League play; this interchange has no southbound exit. After intersecting with Oakland Park Boulevard (SR 816), it enters Tamarac by intersecting with Commercial Boulevard (SR 870) and then enters Coral Springs. After interchanges at Atlantic Blvd (SR 814) and Sample Road (SR 834), it curves 90 degrees east by switching to an east and west orientation with housing and other developments surrounding both sides of the highway. Still in Coral Springs, the highway's next interchange and last exit before additional tolls (both directions) is Coral Ridge Drive. Afterwards, it continues eastward, acting as the border between Parkland to the north of the expressway and Coral Springs to the south of it towards the interchange with University Drive (SR 817). Three miles east of this exit, the expressway has an interchange with US 441 / SR7, which forms the borders between Coconut Creek to the east and Parkland and Coral Springs to the west. The expressway then enters Coconut Creek at the interchange with an exit with Lyons Road before entering Deerfield Beach and approaching the Deerfield Toll Gantry just west of Florida's Turnpike.
After crossing the Turnpike, the tollway reverts to a six lane surface street, Southwest 10th Street, still heading east in Deerfield Beach. It has intersections with two residential streets before reaching Powerline Road (SR 845). East of Powerline Road, SR 869 passes by residential and commercial zones, crossing several local streets for the remainder of its length, with SR 869 intersecting Military Trail and I-95 about two miles east of Powerline Road and terminating at Southwest 6th Avenue about 0.4-mile (0.64 km) east of I-95. There have been plans to extend the expressway east of the Turnpike to I-95 since the early 1990s, but local opposition has prevented it from going forward. Plans were approved in 2018 to create elevated tolled express lanes, with construction expected to begin in 2024.
The Sawgrass Expressway is an all electronic, cashless toll road, using overhead toll gantries in the place of the former toll plazas. Users pay by either SunPass transponders or by a toll by plate system for a slightly higher fee. The cost to travel the entire expressway costs $2.12 with SunPass, and $2.64 with toll by plate as of July 2015. For travel over only part of the expressway, a graduated toll system is in place.
Originally planned to be the University-Deerfield Expressway when it was first proposed in 1960, it was supposed to be the northernmost part of a chain of expressways from Deerfield Beach to Coral Gables, but the proposed Snake Creek Expressway (in Broward County) became part of the Florida's Turnpike Extension and the LeJeune-Douglas Expressway (in Dade County) failed in the 1970s as the result of a county wide expressway revolt. On the other hand, the rerouting of Interstate 75 from the Tamiami Trail to Alligator Alley in 1973 increased the necessity of a northern/western bypass of Broward County and in 1983, the newly created Broward County Expressway Authority proposed the Sawgrass-Deerfield Expressway in its current alignment. A series of cost-cutting measures for the proposed toll road included removal of all planned rest stops and a shortening of the name of the road to Sawgrass Expressway. (A consultant stated in an interview, "Those overhead signs are damn expensive.")
The Sawgrass Expressway broke ground on November 2, 1984, and opened to traffic on July 3, 1986, at a cost of $200 million. The section between I-75 and Sunrise Boulevard opened on August 4, 1988. Bonds were sold in 1984 to finance construction and again in 1986 to partially refund the 1984 bonds. By 1990, however, the Sawgrass Expressway was plagued with a massive debt, light usage and was a subject of local political corruption. The Florida Department of Transportation purchased the Sawgrass Expressway from the Broward County Expressway Authority in December 1990 as part of the expansion program authorized by the Florida Legislature in 1990 Senate Bill 1316. When the highway was first built, it was criticized for being a "road to nowhere", as it passed through undeveloped areas for most of its length. The road's $1.50 toll in its first few years was another criticism by local residents, contributing to the road's light usage. Commercial and residential developments boomed along the toll road in the late '80s and throughout the '90s, making it suitable for commuters. The swampland west of the Expressway is an Everglades Water Conservation Area and unlikely to be developed in the foreseeable future.
The Expressway, along with SW 10th Street west of I-95, was bannered as State Road 869 in 1995.
The Sawgrass Expressway experienced its first toll hike on March 7, 2004, increasing the toll rate for non SunPass users to $2.00 for travel over the entire expressway, with SunPass users still using the original toll rates.
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Florida State Road 869
Florida State Road 869 (SR 869) is a 24-mile-long (39 km) state road located in western and northern Broward County, acting as a de facto bypass of Fort Lauderdale as well as the northern coastal and southern parts of the county extending north from a junction of I-75 (SR 93), I-595 (SR 862) in Sunrise to Coral Springs where it heads eastward towards Florida's Turnpike and intersecting I-95 before terminating at Southwest 10th Avenue in Deerfield Beach. The 21.242-mile (34.186 km) section west of the Turnpike is known as the Sawgrass Expressway, a six-lane (soon to be ten-lane), controlled-access toll road; the 2.745-mile (4.418 km) section east of the Turnpike is a boulevard known as Southwest 10th Street. The expressway opened in 1986 and was added to Florida's Turnpike Enterprise in 1990. The at-grade section east of the Turnpike is maintained by FDOT.
The highway begins in Sunrise at the northern part of the Sawgrass Interchange, with I-75 on the southern and western ends (I-75 "north" leads into Alligator Alley on the west side) and the Port Everglades Expressway (I-595) on the eastern end. For the first 12 miles, the Everglades lies to the west of the expressway while newer residential and commercial developments all lie to the east. After a welcome sign, the expressway passes its lone free interchange to Sunrise Boulevard (SR 838), connecting to the Sawgrass Mills mall and passing through the Sunrise Toll Gantry, the first of two toll gantries on the road before reaching the exit for the Amerant Bank Arena, where the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League play; this interchange has no southbound exit. After intersecting with Oakland Park Boulevard (SR 816), it enters Tamarac by intersecting with Commercial Boulevard (SR 870) and then enters Coral Springs. After interchanges at Atlantic Blvd (SR 814) and Sample Road (SR 834), it curves 90 degrees east by switching to an east and west orientation with housing and other developments surrounding both sides of the highway. Still in Coral Springs, the highway's next interchange and last exit before additional tolls (both directions) is Coral Ridge Drive. Afterwards, it continues eastward, acting as the border between Parkland to the north of the expressway and Coral Springs to the south of it towards the interchange with University Drive (SR 817). Three miles east of this exit, the expressway has an interchange with US 441 / SR7, which forms the borders between Coconut Creek to the east and Parkland and Coral Springs to the west. The expressway then enters Coconut Creek at the interchange with an exit with Lyons Road before entering Deerfield Beach and approaching the Deerfield Toll Gantry just west of Florida's Turnpike.
After crossing the Turnpike, the tollway reverts to a six lane surface street, Southwest 10th Street, still heading east in Deerfield Beach. It has intersections with two residential streets before reaching Powerline Road (SR 845). East of Powerline Road, SR 869 passes by residential and commercial zones, crossing several local streets for the remainder of its length, with SR 869 intersecting Military Trail and I-95 about two miles east of Powerline Road and terminating at Southwest 6th Avenue about 0.4-mile (0.64 km) east of I-95. There have been plans to extend the expressway east of the Turnpike to I-95 since the early 1990s, but local opposition has prevented it from going forward. Plans were approved in 2018 to create elevated tolled express lanes, with construction expected to begin in 2024.
The Sawgrass Expressway is an all electronic, cashless toll road, using overhead toll gantries in the place of the former toll plazas. Users pay by either SunPass transponders or by a toll by plate system for a slightly higher fee. The cost to travel the entire expressway costs $2.12 with SunPass, and $2.64 with toll by plate as of July 2015. For travel over only part of the expressway, a graduated toll system is in place.
Originally planned to be the University-Deerfield Expressway when it was first proposed in 1960, it was supposed to be the northernmost part of a chain of expressways from Deerfield Beach to Coral Gables, but the proposed Snake Creek Expressway (in Broward County) became part of the Florida's Turnpike Extension and the LeJeune-Douglas Expressway (in Dade County) failed in the 1970s as the result of a county wide expressway revolt. On the other hand, the rerouting of Interstate 75 from the Tamiami Trail to Alligator Alley in 1973 increased the necessity of a northern/western bypass of Broward County and in 1983, the newly created Broward County Expressway Authority proposed the Sawgrass-Deerfield Expressway in its current alignment. A series of cost-cutting measures for the proposed toll road included removal of all planned rest stops and a shortening of the name of the road to Sawgrass Expressway. (A consultant stated in an interview, "Those overhead signs are damn expensive.")
The Sawgrass Expressway broke ground on November 2, 1984, and opened to traffic on July 3, 1986, at a cost of $200 million. The section between I-75 and Sunrise Boulevard opened on August 4, 1988. Bonds were sold in 1984 to finance construction and again in 1986 to partially refund the 1984 bonds. By 1990, however, the Sawgrass Expressway was plagued with a massive debt, light usage and was a subject of local political corruption. The Florida Department of Transportation purchased the Sawgrass Expressway from the Broward County Expressway Authority in December 1990 as part of the expansion program authorized by the Florida Legislature in 1990 Senate Bill 1316. When the highway was first built, it was criticized for being a "road to nowhere", as it passed through undeveloped areas for most of its length. The road's $1.50 toll in its first few years was another criticism by local residents, contributing to the road's light usage. Commercial and residential developments boomed along the toll road in the late '80s and throughout the '90s, making it suitable for commuters. The swampland west of the Expressway is an Everglades Water Conservation Area and unlikely to be developed in the foreseeable future.
The Expressway, along with SW 10th Street west of I-95, was bannered as State Road 869 in 1995.
The Sawgrass Expressway experienced its first toll hike on March 7, 2004, increasing the toll rate for non SunPass users to $2.00 for travel over the entire expressway, with SunPass users still using the original toll rates.
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