U.S. ROUTE 19 ALTERNATE (ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA)

'Alternate U.S. Route 19' is the 35 mile former section of U.S. Route 19 from Holiday to St. Petersburg, Florida

Beginning at the intersection of US 19 in Holiday, Pasco County, Florida, it runs for 34.6 miles west of US 19 near the Gulf coast ending at the intersection of US 19 and 5th Avenue North in St. Petersburg, Florida. It has a "Hidden" state number: FL 595.
In between, it serves the cities of Tarpon Springs, Dunedin, Clearwater, and Seminole. It also runs along much of the Pinellas Trail.

Contents

History

Realignment in Clearwater / Largo

Major Intersections

Saint Petersburg-Clearwater Freeway

External links

History

Alternate US 19 was established in 1951 when US 19 was realigned from Holiday through St. Petersburg. It hugs the Gulf coast, servicing Tarpon Springs, Dunedin, Clearwater, Seminole, before ending at US 19 in St. Petersburg. In the 1960s, Alt US 19 followed US 19's old route all the way to US 92. It used to continue east of this along 5th Avenue N, to the intersection with US 92; however, this original route is still numbered and signed as the secondary SR 595 designation of the main route.

Realignment in Clearwater / Largo

Prior to February 2007, Alt. US 19 originally went south through downtown Clearwater on Fort Harrison Avenue, which becomes Clearwater-Largo Road upon entering Largo. It then turned east along West Bay Drive to the intersection of Seminole Boulevard, then turned south. This intersection is also the western terminus of SR 686 and, until the reconfiguration, the southern terminus of SR 651.
As of February 2007, Alt. US 19 was realigned along Missouri Ave. (formerly SR 651), directly north to SR 60 (Court/Chestnut Streets) in Clearwater, west to Myrtle Avenue, then north, before joining Fort Harrison Avenue south of Sunset Point Road. The new alignment now effectively bypasses the downtowns of Largo and Clearwater. It is currently unknown if the former alignment will be retained by the FDOT, or if it will be downloaded to Pinellas County.
When this plan was first announced in 2001, it was viewed as good news for commuters and businesses championing the project as a way to turn Clearwater into a walkable community.

Major Intersections

★ US 19(Northern Terminus)

★ FL 582

★ Pinellas CR 752(formerly FL 584).

★ FL 586/Dunedin Causeway.

★ FL 580.

★ FL 590.

★ FL 60.

★ FL 686(and former FL 651).

★ FL 688.

★ Pinellas CR 296.

★ Pinellas CR 694(Formerly FL 694).

★ FL 666.

★ FL 693.

★ US 19(Southern Terminus)

Saint Petersburg-Clearwater Freeway

The planned St. Petersburg-Clearwater Expressway, or Pinellas Beltway, would have followed the current alignment of "Alt 19" from I-275 to Clearwater. The intersection of Seminole Boulevard and Bay Pines Boulevard is a remnant of this proposed road. The beltway was proposed in 1974, but dead by 1980.^[1]

External links

★ Alternate US 19 (St. Petersburg) (Florida in Kodachrome)

★ US 19 (AARoads.com) (Includes Alternate US 19).