Florida State Road 997
West 177th Avenue / Krome Avenue | ||||
SR 997 highlighted in red | ||||
Route information | ||||
Maintained byFDOT | ||||
Length | 36.705 mi[1][2](59.071 km) | |||
Existed | 1983–present | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end | ![]() | |||
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North end | ![]() | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Florida | |||
Counties | Miami-Dade | |||
Highway system | ||||
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State Road 997(SR 997), also known asKrome AvenueandWest 177th Avenueis a 36.7-mile-long (59.1 km) north–southstate highwayin westernMiami-Dade County, Florida.It runs fromState Road 998inHomesteadnorth acrossU.S. Route 41toU.S. Route 27near Countyline Dragway (formerlyOpa-locka West Airport), just south of theBroward Countyline. Its main use is as abypassaround the western side ofMiami,linking the routes that run southwest, west and northwest from that city. The road passes through newer suburbs in the southern third of its length, while the northern two thirds of the highway traverse the eastern edge of theEverglades.
Route description
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/Kromeavenue.png/300px-Kromeavenue.png)
State Road 997 begins in Homestead at the western terminus ofSR 998on Campbell Drive. The road heads north exiting Homestead and enters unincorporated Miami-Dade county,[3]immediately entering farmland north of Southwest 296th Street, and becoming increasingly rural the further north it journeys.
SR 997 passes through the rural community ofRedland,crossingCSXtracks north of Southwest 232nd Street. 6.1 miles (9.8 km) after leaving Homestead, SR 997 forms the western terminus ofSR 994northwest of the remains ofAladdin City.After a few more miles and crossing the Black Creek Canal, SR 997 chicanes to the right, crossing over the Conrad Yelvington branch railroad where it forms the western boundary of the suburbanThe Hammocksup to its junction withSR 94,[4]the latter's western terminus. Past here, the road enters woodland and is relatively uninterrupted for the next 5 miles (8.0 km), save for the Conrad Yelvington facility,[5]reaching theTamiami Trail(US 41) at its northern end. After passing theMiccosukeeIndian casinoand resort, SR 997 has an uninterrupted run north along the boundary of the Everglades, turning northeast after 9 miles (14 km). After crossing theMiami Canal4.4 miles (7.1 km) later, SR 997 terminates after 0.8 miles (1.3 km) atUS 27. [1][2][6][7]
History
[edit]This sectionneeds additional citations forverification.(November 2015) |
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/38px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png)
State Road 205was defined in 1931 to run fromFlamingo(now insideEverglades National Park) northeast toState Road 4A(nowU.S. Route 1) inFlorida Cityalong theIngraham Highway.There it would runconcurrentwith US 1 intoHomestead(US 1 ran through downtown Florida City and Homestead, instead of the bypass it uses now), splitting onto the existing Krome Avenue to end atState Road 27(U.S. Route 94,theTamiami Trail,nowU.S. Route 41).
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/38px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png)
In the1945 renumbering,theState Road 27number was assigned to all of the former State Road 205, as well as an extension north toState Road 25(nowU.S. Route 27). The largeEverglades National Parkwas formed in 1947, taking over most of SR 27 southwest from Florida City. Paving of this road, mostly along the oldIngraham Highway,was completed in 1956.[8]The extension north to SR 25 opened in the early 1950s.
In the mid-1960s,State Road 5(U.S. Route 1) was rerouted onto a bypass ofHomesteadandFlorida City.This removed theconcurrencyof SR 997 and SR 5/US 1, but the old alignment becameState Road 5AandU.S. Route 1 Businessuntil 1968.
The SR 27 designation for Krome Avenue confused many motorists, as the SR 27 designation belonged to the nearbyTamiami Trail(U.S. Route 41) prior to the 1945 renumbering. Tamiami Trail was still labeled as SR 27 on maps for several years following 1945.[which?]In later decades, motorists confused Krome Avenue for Okeechobee Road, which carried the similarly numberedU.S. Route 27since 1949.
In 1983, theFlorida Department of Transportationrenumbered the road as a part of a statewide renumbering and to avoid state road number confusion. The part north of Florida City became State Road 997, which was extended south past the turnoff for the Everglades to merge withU.S. Route 1.The part southwest from Florida City becameState Road 9336,and at some point it was extended east two blocks past SR 997 to US 1.
Since the late 1960s, plans to incorporate the southern portion of Krome Avenue into Miami-Dade County's system of expressways have been repeatedly announced and killed.[9]The original plans for theHomestead Extension of Florida's Turnpikeincorporated a continuation from the southwest end of the currentState Road 874southwest to Krome Avenue, then southward to Homestead. When the proposal was defeated in 1971, the Turnpike Extension was rerouted to the present-day configuration.
In December 2014, FDOT began work to turn Campbell Drive between SR 997 andUS 1into a truck by-pass, eliminating the need for truck traffic to pass through downtownFlorida CityandHomestead.[10]The widening of Campbell will resulted in its addition to the state highway system asState Road 998.[11]In exchange, FDOT shortened SR 997 on Krome Avenue by relinquishing the segment south of Campbell toMiami-Dade County,which now exists as unsigned County Road 997.[12]
Krome Avenue is named for William J. Krome. Krome was a railroad engineer for theFlorida East Coast Railwayand is known for leading an expedition to surveyCape Sablefor a route for theOverseas RailroadtoKey West.Krome ended up mapping much of Everglades for the first time. Krome is also known for his contributions to agriculture in the area. He was a member of the Florida State Horticultural Society and operated orchards inRedland.[13]
Future - widening
[edit]With increasing traffic and increasing numbers of accidents on Krome Avenue,[14]discussions of widening the highway had begun by the 1980s. A project began in 2015 to widen the highway to 4 lanes with a median for its entire length, starting at Okeechobee Road in 2015 and with the final southern sections to start in 2019.[15][16]Disapproval has arisen fromRedlandandHomestead,as the people living in those areas express their fear of increasing traffic changing the rural character of their neighborhoods. Farmers also worry that the widening will hinder access to the fresh produce that they sell.[16][17]There are also environmental objections to the project, including light pollution from new street lights being installed for the entire length of the highway. This will change the nature of the road from a ruralbypass routeto a thirdouter loopor "beltway" of Miami after thePalmetto Expresswayand theHEFTamid a burgeoning population and increasing traffic congestion, possibly putting pressure on the countyUrban Development Boundary,which protects against westward encroachment into theEverglades.The first section to begin construction was the northern segment from Tamiami Trail to the Okeechobee Road terminus, followed by the middle segment from Tamiami down to SW 88 Street/Kendall Drive.[18]
Major intersections
[edit]The entire route is inMiami-Dade County.[19][20]
Location[19][20] | mi[1][2] | km | Destinations | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Homestead | 2.813 | 4.527 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | western terminus of SR 998[11] southern terminus of SR 997 Krome Avenue continues south as unsigned CR 997 | |
Redland | 9.884 | 15.907 | ![]() ![]() | western terminus of SR 994 | |
The Hammocks | 17.431 | 28.052 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | western terminus of SR 94 | |
| 22.430 | 36.098 | ![]() | ||
| 36.705 | 59.071 | ![]() | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |
See also
[edit]- List of state highways in Florida
- List of highways numbered 997
- Transportation in South Florida#Dolphin Expressway extension - Krome Avenue widening
References
[edit]- ^abcDistrict 6 (November 1, 2015)."Straight Line Diagram of Road Inventory 87150000"(PDF).Florida Department of Transportation.RetrievedNovember 6,2015.
{{cite web}}
:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^abcDistrict 6 (January 16, 2015)."Straight Line Diagram of Road Inventory 87070000"(PDF).Florida Department of Transportation.RetrievedNovember 6,2015.
{{cite web}}
:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^U.S. Census Bureau Geography Division (January 7, 2011).P.L. 94-171 County Block Map (2010 Census): Miami-Dade County, FL(PDF)(Map). U.S. Census Bureau. Sheet 133.RetrievedMay 18,2013.
- ^U.S. Census Bureau Geography Division (January 7, 2011).P.L. 94-171 County Block Map (2010 Census): Miami-Dade County, FL(PDF)(Map). U.S. Census Bureau. Sheet 83.RetrievedMay 18,2013.
- ^"Conrad Yelvington Distributors, Inc".Conrad Yelvington Distributors, Inc. 2004. Archived fromthe originalon May 27, 2013.RetrievedMarch 22,2013.
- ^Florida Department of Transportation Surveying and Mapping Office (April 2007).General Highway Map Miami-Dade County, Florida(PDF)(Map) (May 2010 ed.). Florida Department of Transportation. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on June 16, 2011.RetrievedJune 25,2010.
{{cite map}}
:CS1 maint: year (link) - ^"Map of State Road 997"(Map).Google Maps.Google. March 22, 2013.RetrievedMarch 22,2013.
- ^Stewart, M.A.; Bhatt, T.N.; Fennema, R.J.; Fitterman, D.V. (2002)."The Road to Flamingo: an Evaluation of Flow Pattern Alterations and Salinity Intrusion in the Lower Glades, Everglades National Park".U.S. Geological Survey.RetrievedOctober 30,2005.
- ^Cozart, Justin; Learned, Jason (March 23, 2005)."Florida @ SouthEastRoads - Florida 874".AARoads.RetrievedOctober 30,2005.
- ^"Homestead truck bypass rolling".21 May 2014.
- ^ab"Legislative Matter".
- ^"Legislative Matter".
- ^"William J. Krome's Lasting Legacy in South Dade".South Dade News Leader.Retrieved16 October2016.
- ^Disare, Monica (June 13, 2014)."Krome Avenue will receive a makeover after repeated crashes, deaths".The Miami Herald.
- ^"Krome Avenue Projects".RetrievedOctober 27,2016.
- ^abDiehl, Larry (March 8, 2019)."Krome Ave widening reaches the outskirts of Homestead".RetrievedApril 29,2020.
- ^Weiss, Jessica (September 8, 2015)."Farmers Worry Krome Widening Project Will Ruin Their Livelihood".Miami New Times.RetrievedApril 29,2020.
- ^Chardy, Alfonso (November 17, 2015)."Traffic Watch: Construction continues on State Roads 836, 826, I-95, Turnpike".The Miami Herald.RetrievedNovember 5,2016.
- ^U.S. Census Bureau Geography Division (January 7, 2011).P.L. 94-171 County Block Map (2010 Census): Miami-Dade County, FL(PDF)(Map). U.S. Census Bureau. Index Sheet.RetrievedNovember 6,2015.
- ^"Location of Redland, Florida"(Map).Google Maps.Google. November 6, 2015.RetrievedNovember 6,2015.
External links
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- SR 997in Florida at SouthEastRoads