Florida State Road 76
State Road 76 (SR 76), also known and signed as Kanner Highway, is a 31.504-mile-long (50.701 km) northeast-southwest (signed east–west) state highway connecting Port Mayaca on the shore of Lake Okeechobee at the intersection with US 98-441 (SR 700-SR 15) with Stuart on the shore of the St. Lucie River near the Atlantic Ocean and the Treasure Coast at an intersection with US 1 (SR 5). It parallels the nearby St. Lucie Canal, a navigable waterway connecting the lake and the ocean.
State Road 76 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kanner Highway | ||||
SR 76 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by FDOT | ||||
| Length | 31.504 mi[1] (50.701 km) | |||
| Existed | 1945 renumbering–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |   US 98 / US 441 at Port Mayaca | |||
 SR 710 near Indiantown I-95 near Stuart | ||||
| East end |  US 1 in Stuart | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Florida | |||
| Counties | Martin | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
Route description
West of Florida's Turnpike (SR 91) and Interstate 95 (SR 9), SR 76 crosses the woodland and wetlands typifying Florida northeast of Lake Okeechobee. With the exception of Indiantown on the opposite (northern) side of St. Lucie Canal near the intersection of SR 76 and SR 710, very little human habitation exists along the southwestern 25 miles (40 km) of SR 76.
Northeast of the two expressways, the human presence is more pronounced (a marina is located on the canal between the turnpike and I-95, for example) as the urbanization undergone by Florida's extreme southeastern counties has penetrated Martin County.[2]
History
State Road 76 was formed by the former State Roads 85 and 109 in the 1945 renumbering. SR 76's routing has been unchanged since 1945.[3]
Major intersections
The entire route is in Martin County.
| Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Mayaca | 0.000 | 0.000 | US 98 / US 441 (Conners Highway) – Pahokee, Belle Glade, Okeechobee | Road is unsigned SR 700 / SR 15 | |
| | 11.490 | 18.491 |  To SR 710 – Okeechobee, West Palm Beach, Indiantown | Grade-separated interchange | |
| | 20.934 | 33.690 |    CR 708 east (Bridge Road) to I-95 – Hobe Sound | Former western terminus of SR 708 | |
| | 23.676 | 38.103 |     CR 711 south (Pratt Whitney Road) / CR 76A west (96th Street) | Former termini of SR 711 and SR 76A | |
| | 25.50 | 41.04 | I-95 – Daytona Beach, West Palm Beach | Exit 101 on I-95 (SR 9) | |
| | 26.716 | 42.995 | Salerno Road to US 1 – Indian River State College | Former western terminus of SR 722 | |
| Stuart | 29.182 | 46.964 | Martin Highway (CR 714 west) – Airport | Former SR 714 | |
| 30.442 | 48.992 |    SR 714 (Monterey Road) to Florida's Turnpike | |||
| 31.504 | 50.701 | US 1 (Federal Highway) / Colorado Avenue north – Courthouse Cultural Center | US 1 is unsigned SR 5; continues north without designation | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
Related routes
County Road 76A
Until the mid-1990s, Florida Department of Transportation had State Road 76A signs along Pratt Whitney Road west of SR 76 in Tropical Park and Southwest 48th Street south of Martin Highway (SR 714) near Palm City (an eastward continuation of Pratt Whitney Road is the former SR 711, now County Road 711).
After FDOT removed its State Road signs from the alternate route, new County Road 76A signs lined the rural streets in their place. The County Road 76A designation still applies to the former SR 76A.
County Road 722
At the same time that SR 76A signs were erected, Salerno Road between SR 76 and Dixie Highway (County Road A1A) in Port Salerno sported State Road 722 signs. Like SR 76A to the west, Salerno Road lost its FDOT State Road designation and became County Road 722 in the mid-1990s; unlike the former SR 76A, the former SR 722 is not primarily a rural route, but a road making a direct connection between SR 76 and US 1 (East Federal Highway) in Coral Gardens, thus giving motorists an opportunity to shorten their drive from SR 76 to US 1 by ten miles. Recently, the urbanization that is now occurring on the northeastern end of SR 76 is also occurring along the eastern half of CR 722 as construction of new residential developments continues.
References
- FDOT straight line diagrams Archived 6 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine, accessed February 2014
- Google (25 March 2011). "overview map of State Road 76" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
- Routes 70-79 Archived 3 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 25 March 2011