State Road 31 (SR 31) is a

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Southwest Florida Southwest Florida is the region along the southwest Gulf coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is known for its beaches, subtropical landscape, and winter resort economy. Definitions of the region vary, though its boundaries are genera ...

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, Charlotte, and DeSoto counties. It is about 36 miles (58 kilometers) long. The entire roadway is two lanes wide, even near

Fort Myers A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

. The highway crosses the

Caloosahatchee River The Caloosahatchee River is a river on the southwest Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States, approximately long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National ...

via the Wilson Pigott Bridge, a small

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, a mile north of the southern terminus. The northern terminus is with an intersection of SR 70 near Arcadia. The southern terminus is with an intersection of SR 80 near Fort Myers Shores. The route is home to G. Pierce Wood Memorial Hospital, replacing the old De Soto Aircraft Field.

History

Originally designated State Road 2, the route was redesignated State Road 31 in 1945 as part of a statewide renumbering. Prior to the construction of the Wilson Pigott Bridge in 1960, State Road 31 crossed the Caloosahatchee River about three miles farther east of the current bridge. Just north of Fort Myers Shores, it travelled east along North River Road (then-State Road 78) and crossed the river on a swing bridge into Olga, where it continued to State Road 80 along what is today Olga Drive. The current route south of North River Road carried State Road 78 at the time. In 2006, Cameratta Properties purchased of land along SR 31 in Charlotte County for a master-planned community that upon completion will add approximately 17,000 homes and of retail and office space. The entity formed to

Babcock Ranch Babcock Ranch is a planned community located in southeastern Charlotte County and northeastern Lee County, Florida, consisting of approximately . The community was named after Edward Vose Babcock, a lumber baron and former mayor of Pittsburgh ...

Former Naples segment

Prior to the 1980s, a north-south route near

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

was designated as a secondary state road with the designation of SR 31. eneral Highway Map, Collier County, April 1966, reprinted January 1976/ref> This segment, locally known as Airport-Pulling Road, became ( CR 31) when it was turned over to county control in the 1980s.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Commons category, Florida State Road 31 031 031 031 031