Few details are available for analysis of railroad operations in South- 

 west Florida and no projections have been made for the future. The status of 

 passenger transportation service due to AMTRAK service abandonments is uncer- 

 tain. 



HIGHWAY TRANSPORTATION 



MAJOR NETWORKS 



The locations of existing and committed interstate highways in Florida 

 are shown in Figure 3. In Southwest Florida, 1-75 is the major north-south 

 highway. Because of the convergence of 1-75 with 1-4 near Tampa and St. Pe- 

 tersburg, these two cities are better served by highways than any other part 

 in Southwest Florida. 



Interstate Route 75 connects Tampa and St. Petersburg with Bradenton, 

 Sarasota, Port Charlotte, Fort Myers, and Naples. At Naples, the four lane 

 1-75 connects with the Everglades Parkway (Alligator Alley), a two lane road- 

 way providing direct east-west access to Fort Lauderdale. The other major 

 north-south highway serving the region is US-41, which also connects the major 

 west coast cities listed above. South of Tampa, the major traffic flow is 

 north-south; the east-west roadway network is relatively sparse and lightly 

 traveled. More detailed descriptions of the highway systems in each county 

 are given in the following subsections. 



Charlotte County 



The major north-south highways serving Charlotte County are 1-75, US-41, 

 US- 17, and State Route-31 (SR). US-17 connects Port Charlotte/Punta Gorda 

 with Arcadia, Lakeland, and Interstate Route 4 to the north. State Route 31 

 provides the most direct north-south connection between Fort Myers in Lee 

 County and Arcadia in DeSoto County. There are no major east-west highways in 

 Charlotte County. 



Coll ier County 



In addition to 1-75 and US-41, the north-south travel in Collier County 

 is served by SR-29, which connects US-41 near the Everglades National Park 

 with Immokalee and US-27 to the north. Two major east-west routes serving 

 Collier County are Everglades Parkway (Alligator Alley) and US-41, which con- 

 verge near Naples. 



DeSoto County 



DeSoto County's major north-south arteries are US-17 and SR-31. The 

 major east-west arteries are SR-70, which connects Arcadia with Bradenton, and 

 SR-72, which connects Arcadia with Sarasota. 



Hillsborough County 



Major north' 

 301, and SR-39. 



■south arteries 

 The east-west 



in Hillsborough County are 

 arteries are 1-275, US-92, 



1-75, US-41, US- 

 and SR-60, which 



40 



