Military Trail is a long six-lane north–south arterial road in Broward and Palm Beach counties in

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

. A portion of the road is designated State Road 809 (SR 809), but most of the road within Palm Beach County is locally maintained and signed as County Road 809 (CR 809), while the Broward County section exists without either designation. Military Trail, like the paralleling

Congress Avenue Congress Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Austin, Texas. The street is a six-lane, tree lined avenue that cuts through the middle of the city from far south Austin and goes over Lady Bird Lake leading to the Texas State Capitol in the heart ...

and Jog and Powerline Roads, is a popular

commuting Commuting is periodically recurring travel between a place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regular o ...

alternative to often-congested

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

(I-95),

Florida's Turnpike Florida's Turnpike, designated as unsigned highway, unsigned State Road 91 (SR 91), is a controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll road in the U.S. state of Florida, maintained by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise (FTE). Spanning approximate ...

, and

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, ...

(US 1) in both counties. The state-maintained segment currently begins at an intersection with Lake Worth Road ( SR 802) in Greenacres and terminates at PGA Boulevard ( SR 786) in Palm Beach Gardens. CR 809 exists in two sections––between PGA Boulevard and

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

and between Lake Worth Road and the Broward County line.

Route description

Broward County

Military Trail is a continuation of Andrews Avenue Extension, which itself is a continuation of Andrews Avenue ( CR 811A) built in the 2000s. At an intersection with Sample Road ( SR 834), Andrews Avenue transitions to Military Trail. For the first , the road is cosigned as Northwest 9th Avenue in the

Deerfield Beach Deerfield Beach is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States, just south of the Palm Beach County line. As of the 2020 census, the population was 86,859, making it the tenth-largest city in Broward County. Located 41 miles north of Miam ...

numbering system, before jogging to the east and intersecting Southwest 10th Street, which is an eastward extension of the Sawgrass Expressway (SR 869). Shortly after crossing Hillsboro Boulevard ( SR 810), Military Trail bridges the

Hillsboro Canal The Hillsboro Canal is located in the southeastern portion of Florida within the South Florida Water Management District, and for much of its length forms the border between Broward and Palm Beach counties; however, its western end was entirel ...

and enters

Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's third-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and Broward County and the 24th-most populous in the United States, wi ...

. Although this segment of Military Road is unnumbered, it is maintained by the City of Deerfield Beach from Northwest 54th Street to Hillsboro Boulevard and county-maintained elsewhere.

Palm Beach County

The southern segment of CR 809 begins at the Hillsboro Canal Bridge in

Boca Raton Boca Raton ( ; ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 97,422 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and it ranked as the 23rd-largest city in Florida in 2022. Many people with a Boca Raton Address, ...

. Throughout Palm Beach County, the road has a speed limit of and has three lanes in each direction, primarily serving shopping centers, malls, restaurants, businesses. Military Trail intersects Palmetto Park Road ( CR 798), but not Glades Road ( SR 808) due to an elevation change. Glades passes over Military Trail due to it being very close to the

Tri-Rail Tri-Rail is a commuter rail service linking Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in Florida, United States. The ''Tri'' prefix in the name refers to the three counties served by the railroad: Palm Beach County, Palm Beach, Broward Count ...

tracks and

, so access is provided by nearby service roads, which also serve the Boca Town Center. Military Trail also intersects Yamato Road in Boca, which exists east of CR 809 as SR 794 and west as CR 794. Still in Boca, Military Trail also intersects Clint Moore Road. As it enters

Delray Beach Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020, was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States Census. Located in the Miami metropolitan area, Delray Beach is 52 miles (83 ...

, Military connects with Linton Boulevard ( CR 782) and West Atlantic Avenue ( SR 806), which provides access to downtown Delray. In Boynton Beach, the road intersects Woolbright Road ( CR 792), Boynton Beach Boulevard ( SR 804), and Gateway Boulevard. In Delray and Boynton, Military Trail also provides access to the many country clubs located off the road. In Greenacres, Military Trail intersects with Lake Worth Road ( SR 802) and CR 809 transitions to SR 809. SR 809 begins at the intersection of Military Trail and Lake Worth Road. SR 809 intersects Southern Boulevard (

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, ...

and SR 80) in a diamond interchange. For the next mile, SR 809 acts as the western border of

Palm Beach International Airport Palm Beach International Airport – also known as PBI Airport and historically as Morrison Field & Palm Beach Air Force Base – is a public airport in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States located just west of the city of West Palm Beach ...

, until intersecting with Belvedere Road. One mile north of the northern end of the airport, it intersects Okeechobee Boulevard ( SR 704), a major intersection in the city. Continuing north, Military Trail passes by

Northwood University Northwood University (NU) is a private university focused on business education with its main campus in Midland, Michigan, United States. Opened in 1959, more than 33,000 people have graduated from the institution. History Northwood Universit ...

to the east, and north of Community Drive, SR 809 becomes a service road for housing developments. Following an intersection with 45th Street ( CR 702), SR 809 leaves

West Palm Beach West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

and enters Riviera Beach. There, it intersects with the Bee Line Highway ( SR 710) and Blue Heron Boulevard ( SR 708) at the outskirts of the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center. Continuing into Palm Beach Gardens, SR 809 ends at PGA Boulevard ( SR 786). At PGA Boulevard, SR 809 terminates and Military Trail once again becomes CR 809. This designation continues for just under north to Indiantown Road ( SR 706) in

History

Historically, SR 809 was long, extending from Palmetto Park Road ( CR 798) to Indian Town Road ( SR 706). With the exception of the section between Lake Worth Road and PGA Boulevard, the road was converted to a county road in 2004. Military Trail is named for the trail blazed by

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

Tennessee and Missouri Volunteer forces, from a Fort in Jupiter, south to a Fort in

Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...

during the

Second Seminole War The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups of people collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Muscogee, Creek and Black Seminoles as well as oth ...

Major intersections

References

External links

*{{commons category-inline, Florida State Road 809

809 __NOTOC__ Year 809 ( DCCCIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar, the 809th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 809th year of the 1st millennium, the 9th year of the 9th century, and the ...

Historic trails and roads in Florida