Many County Roads Honor the Famous or the Obscure

By Bob Davidsson 
        Since Palm Beach County was established in 1909, the State of Florida has designated 33 roads and bridges as memorials to famous residents, the not-so-famous, and people whose names are long forgotten with the passage of time.  
         It is not just highways and bridges that are so honored by our state lawmakers. Two trails, an expressway, a turnpike, causeway, plaza and even a cable barrier system have been deemed worthy of memorial recognition by the State of Florida in Palm Beach County.
        Commuters driving to work on I-95 may be interested to learn their overburdened travel route is actually the "Dwight David Eisenhower Veterans Memorial Highway." By an act of the Florida Legislature (86-309), the section of I-95 (SR 9) from Miami to the Georgia line was so designated in October 1986.
        "Ike" isn't the only president honored. The Florida Turnpike also became the "Ronald Reagan Turnpike" from SR 821 north to its intersection with I-75 at Wildwood. The Florida Legislature passed Session Law 98-435 in 1998.
        The turnpike's Palm Beach Plaza was dedicated as the "Charles B. Costar Service Plaza" in 1999. Costar was a businessmen who lobbied for the creation of a highway toll system to finance the building of the Florida Turnpike.
        The Florida Turnpike's cable barrier in Palm Beach, St. Lucie and Miami-Dade counties was designated as the "Alexander Alden Ware Memorial Cable Barrier System" in 2005. It is named for a child who drowned when the family's car flipped into a canal.
        These memorial names attached to our county streets, highways and bridges are voted on and approved by the state senators and representatives we send to Tallahassee. They are introduced as  house and senate bills, or as concurrent resolutions approved and placed in the Laws of Florida.
        The Florida Legislature has the authority to designate transportation facilities "for honorary or memorial purposes." Beginning in 1922, and with few exceptions, honorary designations "were accomplished as they are today, through an act of the Legislature," according to the Florida Senate's Committee on Transportation's 2011 Interim Report.
        After session laws are enacted, it is up to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to print and place signage for the memorial bridges or designated sections of Florida's state roads. Memorials passed before the year 1969 were the responsibility of the State Road Board, the oversight agency for the State Road Department, first established in 1915.
        FDOT classifies a transportation memorial by its designated name, county, state route number, U.S. route number, local street description, type of facility, dedication source and effective date.
        Memorial designations often overlap on the same section of road. The "Kenneth C. Mock Highway (SR 80) extends from the Henry County line to the Atlantic Ocean. However, it overlaps with the "Lawton Chiles Trail" between South Bay and West Palm Beach.
        Kenneth Mock was an engineer from Pahokee who spearheaded efforts to expand SR 80 to a four-lane highway in Palm Beach County. Former two-term Governor and U.S. Senator Lawton Chiles is known for walking across the State of Florida in his political campaigns. The "Lawton Chiles Trail" is the route "Walkin' Lawton" followed along the state's roads.
       The Dixie Highway (U.S. 1) has earned three patriotic memorial titles in Palm Beach County. It became the "Blue Star Memorial Highway" in 1957, the "Constitution Highway" in 1987, and received the additional designation as the "POW-MIA Blue Star Memorial Highway" in 1991.
        In May 1947, the Florida Legislature proclaimed sections of SR 80 from Henry County to West Palm Beach, and U.S. 1 south of Southern Blvd. to the Broward County line, as the "United Spanish War Veterans Memorial Highway" to honor surviving Florida volunteers who served in the Spanish-American War and Philippines conflict.
        Some memorial highways are named for deceased local politicians. The "Ben Sunday Memorial Highway" (SR 806), extending from the west Delray city limits to the Florida Turnpike, is named for a Palm Beach County commissioner who served in the 1950s.
        The "Charles Minor Expressway" was designated in 1961 as the section of U.S. 27 and SR80 between the Hendry County line and South Bay. Minor was a member of the Florida House of  Representatives and Hendry County Commission.
        The main north-south highway in western Palm Beach County, U.S. 27 (SR 25) has acquired many common names during its 70-year history. Within Palm Beach County, it also became the "Tom and Marian Lewis Memorial Highway". The Legislature honored the former state lawmaker and his wife in 1995.
        The section of Alternate A1A from Donald Ross Road north to U.S. 1 in Jupiter was proclaimed the "Glynn Mayo Highway" in 1992. He was the Town of Jupiter's first police chief and served for 28 years.
        There also are highways honoring sporting organizations in Palm Beach County. The "Moroso Memorial Highway" is a section of SR 710 named in 1999 to honor the Palm Beach International Raceway and its former owner, Dick Moroso.
        The arrival of the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) in northern Palm Beach County was recognized by the Florida Legislature by selecting a portion of SR 786 in Palm Beach Gardens as the "PGA Boulevard". The designation became law on June 24, 1965.
        Palm Beach County's barrier island highway, SR A1A, has acquired its share of memorials. The earliest designation was the "Atlantic Beach Boulevard," so named in 1927 as the coastal highway from St. Augustine south to Miami. "North Ocean Boulevard," from Pelican Lane to Sea Road on the Palm Beach barrier island was officially cited in April 1992.
        The little known but much traveled "Coast to Coast Highway" was designated in 1992. It extends from Siesta Key on Florida's west coast to U.S. 1 in Riviera Beach and includes SR 710 in Palm Beach County.
        The Florida Legislature remembered historic Mar-a-lago and its Post cereals heiress by naming the link between SR A1A and Southern Boulevard as the "Marjorie M. Post Memorial Causeway" in 1972.

Memorial Bridges in Palm Beach County
        Below is the current list of eight memorial bridges in Palm Beach County designated by the Florida Legislature with their effective dates of dedication:

• Carlin White Bridge. (Name dedicated in 2007). Across the Loxahatchee River near Jupiter Inlet. He was a Jupiter pioneer who died in 2014 at age 107.
• Haven M. Ashe Bridge. (1965.) Across the Boca Raton Inlet on A1A. He was a Boca Raton pioneer and bridge tender who worked for Florida's State Road Department.
• Jack L. Saunders Bridge. (1980) Spans the Intracoastal Waterway on Linton Blvd., Delray Beach. He was a Delray Beach pioneer and former mayor.
• Jerry Thomas Memorial Bridge. (1981) Also known as the Blue Heron Bridge. It spans the Intracoastal Waterway in Riviera Beach. He was a past president of the Florida Senate and candidate for governor.
• L.E. Buie Memorial Bridge. (2004) It is the skypass bridge on U.S. 1 passing over the Port of Palm Beach. She was a resident of West Palm Beach since 1925 and a lifelong civil rights advocate.
• Richard E. "Pete" Damon Bridge. (2005) Bridge crosses the Loxahatchee River along Alternate A1A in Jupiter. He was a bridge tender on the Alternate A1A Bridge for 20 years.
• Riviera Memorial Bridge. (1945) Bridge crosses Lake Worth along SR A1A on Singer Island.
• Robert A, Harris Bridge. (1970) Bridge crosses the Intracoastal Waterway at the City of Lake Worth. He was the director of the Lake Worth Chamber of Commerce from 1961-69.

        Finally, the oldest highway in Palm Beach County is "Military Trail". It was originally hacked out of pinewood forests and scrub along the Atlantic Coastal Ridge in 1838 by Major William Lauderdale and his Mounted Tennessee Volunteers, with the assistance of a U.S. Army unit led by Lt. Robert Anderson.
        The trail connected Fort Jupiter with Fort Dallas near the current City of Miami. During the Second Seminole War it was known as "Lauderdale's Route" but was later commonly called the generic "Military Trail".
       Ironically, the historic route was not recognized by the Florida Legislature until March 1972. The section of the former wagon trail from SR 808 to PGA Boulevard is now a state memorial highway.
(c.) Davidsson. 2018.    
NOTE: See additional articles below and archived in Older Posts.

U.S. 27: County's Highway of Sugar, Blood and Hope

By Bob Davidsson
        Highway U.S. 27, the westernmost federal north-south route in Palm Beach County, is a roadway with many acquired names, leading its drivers on journey through the unique transportation history of Florida.
        During its 84-year history, U.S. 27 (also designated SR 25) earned the nicknames of  the "Backbone of Florida," the "Sugarland Highway," "Bloody 27" and the "Claude Pepper Memorial Highway."
        For two generations, until the completion of Florida's interstate highway grid and the opening of the Florida Turnpike as the Sunshine State Parkway, U.S. 27 was the main 1,373-mile gateway for trucking and the tourism industry connecting the Midwest to destinations within the Sunshine State.
        U.S. 27 begins in Fort Wayne, Ind., and meanders south through Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia. The highway first entered Florida in 1934 at the sleepy village of Havana in Gadsden County, located a few miles northwest of Tallahassee.
        By 1947, U.S. 27 was extended 481 miles to its final destination in Miami, where it links with highway U.S. 1 at North 36th Street, just south of "Little Havana". As a result of the common names at its Florida entry point and terminus, U.S. 27 acquired yet another moniker - the "Havana to Little Havana Highway."
       Due to the importance of the highway for tourism in the mid-20th century, and its use as the backbone of the state's transportation system, promoters began referring to U.S. 27 as the "Backbone of Florida." The name is an appropriate geographic description since it crosses the heartland of state in central Florida.
        U.S. 27 passes along the western shore of Lake Okeechobee in Glades and Hendry counties, where it briefly merges with SR 80 as it enters Palm Beach County near the City of South Bay. The federal highway parts company with SR 80 east of South Bay and heads due south through miles of sugarcane fields.
        A sugarcane crop valued at about $1.5 billion annually is transported on U.S. 27 in Palm Beach and Hendry counties. Many growers in the agricultural industry began calling it the "Sugarland Highway" due to its economic importance to the region.
        After entering the sugar harvesting center of Okeelanta in central Palm Beach County, U.S. 27 veers southeast toward Broward County. When it crosses the county line, the highway enters the Everglades and Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area wetlands.
       As it departs the conservation area, the U.S. 27 skirts the western edge of endless miles of generic urban sprawl in southern Broward and Miami-Dade counties before turning east near Miami's international airport to its intersection with U.S. 1.
        Shortly after the death of former U.S. Senator and Congressman Claude Pepper, the Florida Legislature voted to honor the veteran Miami lawmaker by designating U.S. 27 as the "Claude Pepper Memorial Highway" on May 12, 1999.
        The session law (CS/HB 75) states, "U.S. Highway 27 in the State of Florida is hereby designated 'Claude Pepper Memorial Highway'. The Department (of Transportation) is authorized to determine appropriate intervals along U.S. 27 for the location of markers so as to inform the public of the designation."
        The Legislature also designated the entire length of U.S. 27 as the "Purple Heart Highway," with an effective date of July 1, 2010.
        Because U.S. 27 was the first roadway to be four-laned along most of its route in Florida, it also earned the unofficial title of  "Florida's First Superhighway". However, over the decades one section of the so-called "Superhighway" earned a more deadly reputation in Palm Beach County as "Bloody 27".

The Deadly Legacy of 'Bloody 27"
        At 5:55 a.m. March 17, 2015, Carolina Ortiz was driving her three teenage children to their school in Miami-Dade County. Six miles south of the City of South Bay, she encountered a detached truck trailer which had separated after departing from an Okeelanta sugar mill. It loomed out of the early morning darkness and fog in her lane of traffic.
        While attempting to avoid the obstacle, her Ford Focus was hit by a pickup truck and oncoming tracker-trailer. Mrs. Ortiz and her three children were killed.
        This sad narrative, and hundreds like it, have earned highway U.S. 27 the notorious nickname of "Bloody 27".
        Nature, agriculture and a heavily used trucking route have conspired to make this 22-mile stretch of highway in western Palm Beach County one of the most dangerous roads in America. Early morning fog, mixed with haze from burning sugarcane fields, and numerous access roads for farm vehicles have proven a deadly combination for motorists.
        The speed limits on U.S. 27 vary from 30 to 65 miles per hour. Recent studies conclude most accidents occurring on U.S. 27 are caused by drivers who are careless and inattentive when entering the highway. Statistics reveal right-of-way violations account for the vast majority of serious or fatal wrecks.
        Adding to this bad news was a 2017 Geotab study, released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), ranking U.S. 27 in Florida as the third deadliest highway in America. The findings recorded 529 fatal crashes with 614 deaths, or a fatality rate of 2.16 deaths per million vehicles.
        In April 2017 newspapers across the state and nation trumpeted the grim statistics in their headlines. Forbes magazine, for example, published an article featured U.S. 27 entitled "Death Tolling: The Most Dangerous Highways in America."
        The NHTSA study concluded that an estimated 10 percent of fatal accidents and 17 percent of all crashes were caused by "distracted driving".

U.S. 27: A New Highway of Hope
        The main line of the Florida Turnpike was completed in stages from Wildwood to Miami in July 1964. The turnpike merged with I-75 north of Wildwood in central Florida, with I-4, I-10 and I-95 added to the interstate network about a decade later.
        The completion of the interstate network ended the reign of  U.S. 27 as the state's main tourism access highway. U.S. 27 primarily became a road for local and regional transit, trucking and business. Trucks make up 42 percent of the vehicles using U.S. 27 in Palm Beach County.
        In a May 2015 report to the Florida Department of Transportation, the Florida Trucking Association stated, "As a connection to many regions of the state, and as an alternative to the heavily used  interstate system, U.S. 27 is vital to Florida's trucking industry."
        The trucking industry in Florida provided 333,680 jobs in 2016, or one out of every 22 in the state. Industry wages paid in Florida exceeded $15.3 billion. There were 37,270 trucking companies located in Florida during 2017, most of them locally operated. Four trucking lines are currently serving South Bay. (Source: ATRI)
        The Glades communities of South Bay, Belle Glade and Pahokee in Palm Beach County have long sought an economic boost to supplement agriculture, sports fishing and Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (LOST) tourism. An enhanced and expanded U.S. 27 may provide the answer.
        A "U.S. 27 Highway Corridor  Project" outline was introduced April 21, 2017 by the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (TCRPC). Among its objectives, the plan calls for upgrading and widening U.S. 27 to six lanes for the 72-mile section between South Bay and Miami.
        A corresponding "rail bypass line" would be built to handle 15 to 22 freight trains daily, providing an alternative for haulers from the Florida East Coast railway which is committed to increasing passenger service with Brightline.
        While unveiling of the project before the Port of Palm Beach Commission, TCRPC Executive Director Michael Busha said, "I believe it unlocks the potential the Glades have been looking for..."
        In essence, the $1.25 billion plan would transform the Glades communities into an intermodal  transit hub for business and agriculture between Miami and the Palm Beaches. However, as with many visionary projects, the main barrier is funding.
        Whatever the future holds for U.S. 27, the highway with many names will continue to be the backbone of the state's transportation history.
*NOTE: Read additional articles below and archived in Older Posts.
(c.) Davidsson. 2018.