State Road 64 (SR 64) extends from City Road 789 (former County Road 789) near the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

in Holmes Beach on

Anna Maria Island Anna Maria Island is a barrier island on the coast of Manatee County, Florida, in the United States. It is bounded on the west by the Gulf of Mexico, on the south by Longboat Pass (which separates it from Longboat Key, Florida, Longboat Key), ...

in Manatee County to

US 27 U.S. Route 27 or U.S. Highway 27 (US 27) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway in the Southern and Midwestern U.S. The southern terminus is at US 1 in Miami, Florida. The northern terminus is at Interstate 69 (I ...

US 98 U.S. Route 98 (US 98) is an east–west United States Highway in the Southeastern United States that runs from western Mississippi to southern Florida. It was established in 1933 as a route between Pensacola, Florida, Pensacola and Apalachicola, ...

in Avon Park in Highlands County. State Road 64 travels from west to east through the counties of

Manatee Manatees (, family (biology), family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivory, herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing t ...

, Hardee and

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

Route description

Manatee County

SR 64 begins at Gulf Drive ( City Road 789) in Holmes Beach on

and heads east along Manatee Avenue. Less than a mile after it begins, it crosses Anna Maria Sound via the Anna Maria Island Bridge on to Perico Island, which is within Bradenton city limits. About two miles later, it crosses the Palma Sola Causeway on to the mainland, where it becomes a four-land divided road. At 15th Avenue near Downtown Bradenton, SR 64 splits into two one-way street pairs with eastbound lanes shifting south one block on to 6th Avenue while westbound lanes remain on Manatee Avenue through Downtown Bradenton. Through Downtown Bradenton, SR 64 intersects US 41 Business (

Tamiami Trail The Tamiami Trail () is the southernmost of U.S. Highway 41 (US 41) from State Road 60 (SR 60) in Tampa to US 1 in Miami. A portion of the road also has the hidden designation of State Road 90 (SR 90). The north� ...

), crosses

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

Palmetto Subdivision The Palmetto Subdivision is a CSX Transportation rail line in the Tampa Bay region of Florida. It runs from just south of Tampa south to Bradenton. Route description The north end of the Palmetto Subdivision is in East Tampa just north of th ...

, and intersects

US 41 U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway System, United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part i ...

. The eastbound and westbound lanes rejoin each other on Manatee Avenue just east of Downtown Bradenton at 14th Street near the Manatee Village Historical Park. SR 64 continues east from here as a six-lane divided road. It crosses the

Braden River The Braden River is a waterway that drains an area watershed in west-central Florida and is the largest tributary of the Manatee River. Hydrology The hydrology of the Braden River was altered in 1936 when the city of Bradenton created Ward ...

and exits Bradenton city limits before coming to an interchange with

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...

(I-75). Continuing east of I-75, SR 64 reduces to four lanes at Lakewood Ranch Road. At Lorraine Road, it becomes a two-lane road as it becomes a more rural route. It passes

Lake Manatee State Park Lake Manatee State Park (Lake Manatee State Recreation Area) is a State Park in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the south shore of Lake Manatee. It is east of I-75 on State Road 64 in Bradenton. It is made up of pine flatwoods, Sand Pi ...

and crosses Lake Manatee near

Bethany Bethany (,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac language, Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā''), locally called in Palestinian Arabic, Arabic Al-Eizariya or al-Aizariya (, "Arabic nouns and adjectives#Nisba,

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is split into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

of Lazarus (name), L ...

. It then passes to the north of Wingate Creek State Park and through Myakka Head before entering

Hardee County Hardee County is a county located in the Florida Heartland of the Central Florida region in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,327. Its county seat is Wauchula. Hardee County comprises the Wauchula, Florid ...

Hardee and Highlands counties

In Hardee County, SR 64 continues east and after nine miles, it passes the community of Ona. In Ona, it crosses CSX's Brewster Subdivision and intersects CR 663, which runs north to Fort Green and south to

Limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and Arcadia. Continuing east of Ona, it crosses the

Peace River The Peace River () is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in the Peace-Athabasca Delta to form the ...

and enters

Zolfo Springs Zolfo Springs is a town in Hardee County, Florida, Hardee County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Florida Heartland region. The population was 1,737 at the 2020 census. Etymology The name of the town got its name in the early 1800s, w ...

. SR 64 intersects

US 17 U.S. Route 17 or U.S. Highway 17 (US 17), also known as the Coastal Highway, is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that spans in the Southeastern United States. It runs close to the Atlantic Coast for much of its len ...

in Zolfo Springs. East of Zolfo Springs, SR 64 turns northeast and intersects with SR 636 seven miles later. It then continues east and enters Highlands County. In Highlands County, SR 64 enters Avon Park city limits near

Avon Park Executive Airport Avon Park Executive Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport located two nautical miles (3.7 km) west of the central business district of Avon Park, a city in Highlands County, Florida, United States. Overview According to the FAA's ...

. SR 64 then comes to its eastern terminus at

in Avon Park.

History

SR 64 from just east of Bradenton to Zolfo Springs was once the western segment of a cattle trail running from Bradenton to Fort Pierce, now known as the

Florida Cracker Trail The Florida Cracker Trail runs from just east of Bradenton, and ends in Fort Pierce, a total distance of approximately . In years past, this route was used for both cattle and horses. Today it includes parts of State Road 66, State Road 64, an ...

. The road was added to the state highway system in the 1920s with various designations. The route was originally SR 18 from Palma Sola Bay to Bradenton, SR 63 from US 41 in Bradenton to a point east of Zolfo Springs (at present-day SR 636), and SR 32 east of there to Avon Park. It was also SR 161 concurrently from Bradenton to Waterbury Road ( CR 675). The route was redesignated SR 64 in 1945 as a result of the

1945 Florida State Road renumbering On June 11, 1945, Florida's state roads were renumbered. The State roads in Florida before 1945, old system numbered routes in the order they were legislated, while the Florida State Roads, new system used a grid. Notes See also

*Flor ...

. In 1957, SR 64 was extended west from Bradenton west to Perico Island and

over the newly-built Palma Sola Causeway and Anna Maria Island Bridge. Perico Island was previously access via a road that ran from 9th Avenue North southwest along the present-day Spoonbill Trail.

Bridges

Anna Maria Island Bridge

The Anna Maria Island Bridge is a double-leaf

bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- o ...

that crosses the

Sarasota Bay Sarasota Bay is a lagoon located off the central west coast of Florida in the United States. Though no significant single stream of freshwater enters the bay, with a drainage basin limited to 150 square miles in Manatee and Sarasota counties, it ...

, connecting the

barrier islands Barrier islands are a coastal landform, a type of dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few is ...

of Holmes Beach to the

mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or demogr ...

of Palma Sola,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. It was built in 1957 along with the Palma Sola Causeway. The bridge extended SR 64 to Anna Maria Island. The Anna Maria Island Bridge was the second bridge connecting the mainland to

after the Cortez Bridge. The bridge was designated by the 1965 Legislature of Florida.

Major intersections

Related roads

County Road 64 in Manatee County

County Road 64 (CR 64) is the unsigned designation for 75th Street Northwest on the west side of

Bradenton Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a principal city in the Sarasota metropolitan area. Dow ...

. It runs from SR 684 (Cortez Road) north across SR 64 to the

De Soto National Memorial De Soto National Memorial is a national memorial located in Manatee County, approximately west of Bradenton, Florida. The national memorial commemorates the 1539 landing of Hernando de Soto and the first extensive organized exploration by Euro ...

northwest of Palma Sola. The route was previously a spur of SR 64.

County Road 64 in Highlands and Polk Counties

County Road 64 is a bi-county extension of SR 64 in

and Polk Counties. It begins at SR 17 in Avon Park as East Main Street, which is part of SR 17 from the eastern terminus of SR 64. From there it runs straight west and east until the intersection with East Avon Pines Road, where it branches to the northeast, a position it maintains throughout the rest of the county. After crossing a bridge over Bonnet Creek, it crosses the Polk County Line thus entering part of the

Lake Wales Ridge State Forest The Lake Wales Ridge State Forest is in the U.S. state of Florida. The forest is located on the Lake Wales Ridge in Central Florida Central Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different ...

, before curving east as it approaches a bridge over Arbuckle Creek, and terminating at the

Avon Park Air Force Range Avon may refer to: *River Avon (disambiguation), several rivers Organisations *Avon Buses, former bus operating company in Merseyside and Cheshire, England * Avon Coachworks, a car body builder established in 1919 at Warwick, England, relaunc ...

County Road 64A in Hardee County

County Road 64A is an alternate county route of SR 64. It begins as a north-south road at the intersection with SR 64 in Oak Grove west of Zolfo Springs, and begins to curve to the northeast at the intersection of Alton Carlton Road, which leads to the Wauchula Municipal Airport. By the time it reaches the intersection of CR 35B, it runs directly west and east like its parent route and enters the City of Wauchula. Here, the road's only major intersection is CR 35A before it finally terminates at the intersection of

and SR 636.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Florida State Road 64
Florida Route Log (SR 64)

064 64 or sixty-four may refer to: * 64 (number) Dates * one of the years 64 BC, AD 64, 1964, 2064 Places * Highway 64, see list of highways numbered 64 ** Interstate 64, a national route in the United States * The code for international direct d ...