Florida State Road 46
State Road 46 is an east-west route in central Florida consisting of two separate noncontiguous segments, running from U.S. [Route 441 in Florida|U.S. Route 441] and County Road 46 in Mount Dora to Florida [State Road 453|State Road 453] southwest of Sorrento and from State Road 429 and County Road 46A northeast of Mount Plymouth to US 1 in Mims. Along the way, it crosses the Wekiva River and, further east, the St. Johns River near the Econlockhatchee River.
County Road 46 continues west from the western terminus of the western segment to County Road Old 441 in Mount Dora.
Route description
The western segment of State Road 46 begins as Sanford Road at an at-grade intersection with US 441, where it changes from a County Road to a State Road. Here, there are direct ramp movements connecting southbound US 441 with eastbound State Route 46 and westbound State Road 46 to northbound US 441. Continuing east, roughly paralleling the former Sanford and Lake Eustis Railway right of way to the north, the western segment of SR 46 terminates at an intersection with SR 453 at the latter's northern terminus.The eastern segment of SR 46 begins at an at-grade intersection with CR 46A and ramps which lead to SR 429 at a modified diamond interchange. Here, State Road 46 runs along the former Sanford and Lake Eustis Railway right of way as a two-lane frontage road to SR 429. The two highways continue east before leaving the forest on a bridge over the Wekiva River at the Lake-Seminole County line and running along the south end of Lower [Wekiva River Preserve State Park]. After crossing the Wekiva River into Seminole County, SR 46 splits into a pair of one-lane parallel one-way frontage roads to SR 429, having roundabouts at Longwood Markham Road, Yankee Lake Road, Lake Markham Road, and Glade View Drive, also having on and off-ramps with SR 429 west of Longwood Markham Road and east of Yankee Lake Road.
SR 429 turns away from SR 46 west of Orange Boulevard but not before having a westbound SR 46 to southbound SR 429 onramp and a northbound SR 429 to eastbound SR 46 offramp. Here, SR 46 becomes a four lane divided highway before reaching an interchange with I-4, where SR 46 enters the city of Sanford. Continuing east, it joins a concurrency with U.S. Route 17/92 at an intersection at Monroe Road, the latter of these routes being in a wrong-way concurrency. Along this segment, US 17/92/SR 46 passes by the Sanford SunRail station (SunRail)|station] before it climbs a bridge over the CSX Sanford Subdivision then intersects Persimmon Avenue, a road leading to the Sanford Auto Train Station, and former passenger station. Eventually the triple-concurrency enters the City of Sanford where it is renamed West First Street. Closer to downtown Sanford the divider ends west of Avocado Avenue, but begins again before it turns south onto South French Avenue. During this triple-concurrency, US 17-92-SR 46 intersects a pair of railroad crossings at a junction of two freight lines, and then another one at the intersection of West 13th Street, also the western terminus of CR 415.
SR 46 then branches off to the east again at H.E. Thomas Jr. Parkway and 25th Street. SR 46 runs along the northern border of the Orlando Sanford International Airport, then after the southern terminus of SR 415, uses a bridge over Lake Jesup at the St. Johns River then become Geneva Avenue as it heads southeast. East of Geneva, the road crosses the St. Johns River itself using the Mims Bridge south of Lake Harney, and entering Volusia County. The journey through Volusia is short-lived though, because the road quickly enters Brevard County and turns straight east at Southmere, where it becomes Carpenter Road. SR 46 finally enters Mims in the vicinity of I-95 at Exit 223, and then ends at US 1. After US 1, Main Street continues briefly before becoming a dirt road that terminates at Hammock Road, also a dirt road.
- In 2012, the Florida Legislature designated the Brevard County section as the Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Memorial Highway.
History
CR 46A previously cut through a portion of the Seminole State Forest and met SR 46 further east, but was realigned to meet SR 46 west of it to reduce its impact.
Between its western intersection with SR 429 at CR 46A and the Lake-Seminole County Line, SR 46 was realigned to follow the alignment of SR 429, resulting in a few segments of highway being bypassed and orphaned.
SR 46 was truncated at its intersections with SR 453 southwest of Sorrento and its western intersection with SR 429 at CR 46A when the Wekiva Parkway project was completed in 2024, resulting in two discontinuous segments. SR 46 formerly followed Sanford Road and Sorrento Avenue through Sorrento and Mount Plymouth along the former railway right of way.