Florida's Turnpike
Florida's Turnpike, designated as unsigned State Road 91, is a controlled-access toll road in the U.S. state of Florida, maintained by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise. Spanning approximately along a northwest–southeast axis, the turnpike is in two sections. The SR 91 mainline runs roughly from its southern terminus at an interchange with Interstate 95 in Miami Gardens to an interchange with I-75 in Wildwood at its northern terminus. The Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike continues from the southern end of the mainline for another to US Highway 1 in Florida City. The slogan for the road is "The Less Stressway". The mainline opened in stages between 1957 and 1964, while the extension was completed in 1974. The turnpike runs through Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, where it parallels I-95, and through Orlando, where it crosses I-4.
Route description
Miami to Fort Pierce
The main section of Florida's Turnpike begins at the northern end of the Golden Glades Interchange in Miami Gardens as a six-lane highway, and passes through the Golden Glades Toll Barrier, a cashless toll point, similar to the ones on the HEFT. About north of the toll gantry, it passes by Hard Rock Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League, to the west before intersecting with the northern end of the HEFT at the Miami-Dade/Broward County line from Golden Glades, continuing the HEFT's mile marker. The highway goes through the inland suburbs of Miramar, Hollywood, and Davie, with an exit at Hollywood Boulevard at mile 50, and passing west of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood just south the Griffin Road interchange. In Davie, about north of the Homestead Extension interchange, it intersects with I-595, providing direct access to Alligator Alley and Ft. Lauderdale International Airport. After two more interchanges, one with Sunrise Boulevard in Plantation and Commercial Boulevard in Tamarac, it crosses the Cypress Creek Toll Plaza in North Lauderdale, the second on the mainline. Just north of the toll plaza, it intersects with the Pompano Beach Service Plaza, the first of seven full-service plazas on the mainline, and where the Turnpike's operations center is located. Still in Pompano Beach, it has a northbound-only exit at Atlantic Boulevard, followed by full interchanges with Coconut Creek Parkway/Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Sample Road . North of exit 69, the road is no longer illuminated by streetlights but rather only at interchanges, near service plazas, and some urban areas. It then enters Deerfield Beach with an interchange with the Sawgrass Expressway in Coconut Creek, the final interchange in Broward County. The Turnpike then enters Palm Beach County, with one interchange each in Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Boynton Beach.The turnpike narrows to a four-lane highway as it goes through a less developed portion of Palm Beach County, crossing interchanges with Lake Worth Road, followed by the Lake Worth/West Palm Beach Service Plaza at mile marker 94. In West Palm Beach, the highway has interchanges with US 98/SR 80, a SunPass-only interchange at Jog Road, followed by an interchange at Okeechobee Boulevard that heads directly into downtown West Palm Beach. North of the interchange, the highway enters stretch of sparse development between this point and Port St. Lucie, intersecting with the Beeline Highway, another SunPass only interchange before leaving West Palm Beach. Just north of the SR 786 interchange in Palm Beach Gardens, I-95 parallels the Turnpike to the east for about, with I-95 visible from the turnpike as it has an interchange with SR 706 in Jupiter and into Martin County. It breaks off as it crosses the Thomas B. Manuel Bridge over the St. Lucie Canal, crossing I-95 without an interchange just south of the SR 714 interchange, the only exit in Martin County. I-95 heads west towards the western fringes of St. Lucie County development, while the turnpike takes a path through the central areas of the county. The turnpike has two interchanges in Port St. Lucie, one at Becker Road, the third SunPass-only exit, and SR 716, followed by the Port St. Lucie-Fort Pierce service plaza at mile marker 144. The turnpike intersects I-95 one last time just south of SR 70 in Fort Pierce, as I-95 continues to head up the east coast of Florida and the turnpike curves inland towards Orlando.
Fort Pierce to Wildwood
North of the SR 70 interchange, the turnpike enters a rural area, with cattle farms and orange groves lining the road for most of the section between Fort Pierce and Kissimmee, with only one interchange: SR 60 in Yeehaw Junction. There are two service plazas in this area, one at Fort Drum at mile marker 184 and the other, Canoe Creek, at mile marker 229. Between Fort Pierce and Yeehaw Junction, the turnpike travels in a nearly east-west direction heading inland, with a gap between the two exits, the second longest of any US expressway. Between Yeehaw Junction and Kissimmee, the turnpike, returning to a north-northwest direction towards Orlando, has a stretch without an exit, the longest of any US expressway. It then passes exit 240 located at Clay Whaley Road, a partial interchange featuring a northbound on-ramp and southbound off-ramp only. After interchanges with US 192/US 441 and the Osceola Parkway, the turnpike enters Orange County and Orlando, expanding to eight lanes north of the latter interchange and quickly intersecting SR 417 . Exit 254 in Sky Lake is a massive combined interchange with both US 17/US 92/US 441 and SR 528, which combines a series of partial cloverleaf interchanges with access ramps from side roads. The turnpike then intersects with Consulate Drive and SR 482 .Image:Florida's Turnpike at exit 267A.jpg|thumb|left|Florida's Turnpike southbound at the interchange with SR 429 in Ocoee, Exit 267A, before expansion to four lanes in each direction
After passing the I-4 interchange near many of Orlando's theme parks, connecting directly with the I-4 express lanes to and from the east along I-4, the Turnpike moves in a northwest direction, first passing by the Turkey Lake Service Plaza at mile marker 263, where the FDOT district headquarters of the Turnpike are located. The Turnpike has the next two interchanges with Orlando area tollways, SR 408 at exit 265 and SR 429 at exit 267A, where in between the two exits, the turnpike expands to become a twelve-lane highway, and reverting to an eight-lane highway north of the SR 429 interchange. The last two Orange County interchanges are with SR 50 five miles apart at exit 267B and 272, with the turnpike becoming a four-lane highway north of exit 272, and staying that way for the rest of its northward journey. The Turnpike then enters Lake County, heading in a northwestern direction, where hilly countryside becomes a part of the terrain for the remainder of the expressway while intersecting with Hancock Road in Minneola, an electronic toll interchange. At mile 285, it has a northbound exit/southbound entrance with US 27, followed by the Leesburg electronic toll gantry at mile 288, and a southbound exit/northbound entrance with US 27 at mile 289. The last interchange in Lake County is with County Road 470, which does not provide cash.
At mile marker 299, the turnpike passes through the final service plaza, the Okahumpka service plaza just northwest of the Lake-Sumter County Line. Between US 301 and the northern terminus, there is no toll. The turnpike ends with an interchange with I-75 in Wildwood, about south of Ocala. Exit 307 at SR 44 provides access to southbound I-75 through that interstate's exit 329, while northbound I-75 travelers can access the turnpike at this exit.
Tolls
Tolls on the turnpike are an average of for cars and other two-axle vehicles using SunPass. A trip on the entire turnpike would cost $22.59 with Toll-by-Plate, and $17.45 with SunPass.The turnpike was originally entirely on the ticket system, but due to congestion in the Miami and Orlando metro areas, a barrier toll system was implemented from the Three Lakes toll plaza north to the terminus at I-75, and from Lantana south to I-95, in the 1990s.
The SunPass electronic toll collection system, in use since 1999, has become the primary method of paying tolls on the turnpike, with 80% of customers using the system. SunPass can be used on most Florida toll roads, in conjunction with other electronic toll collection systems in Florida. SunPass users benefit from an average of a 25% discount on tolls and access to SunPass-only exit ramps. SunPass transponders are available at the gift shop and gas stations at all service plazas, as well as Walgreens, Publix, and CVS stores statewide. Since 2021, E-ZPass, which is used primarily in the Midwest and Northeast U.S., has also been accepted on Florida's Turnpike.
As the Turnpike and its system of roads are primary routes for emergency evacuations, tolls may be suspended, in cooperation with the state's emergency operations center and county governments, when a state or national emergency, most common being a hurricane watch, warrant rapid movement of the population.
Services
Service plazas
Eight service plazas are located along the turnpike, spaced about apart. All eight plazas are open 24 hours a day and located on the center median of the turnpike for access from both directions and offer gasoline, diesel fuel, internet access, travel and tourism info and tickets, picnic areas, TV news, gift shops offering Florida Lottery, family-friendly restrooms, and pay phones. A convenience store/gas station is located at the Snapper Creek plaza on the Homestead Extension of the turnpike, while the remaining seven are full-service plazas, featuring a selection of franchised fast food restaurants. Three of the service plazas also provide E85 ethanol. The Turkey Lake, Ft. Drum plaza, Canoe Creek, Okahumpa, Port St. Lucie, West Palm Beach, and Pompano Beach plazas also have Tesla Superchargers for Tesla electric vehicles.The operation of Sunshine State Parkway gas stations and service centers was originally bid out under separate contracts, and as a result, differing petroleum brands operated concurrently along the parkway, with varying levels of service and pricing. This practice was discontinued in 1995 when all service center operations were combined to improve supply and continuity of service; with Martin Petroleum, a Florida corporation, operating the stations with Citgo brand fuel at its stations. Since then, the Venezuelan government, under President Hugo Chávez, nationalized Citgo, and in 2006, political controversy resulted in a movement to remove the brand from the turnpike.
In 2009, Areas U.S.A. signed a 30-year contract for operation of food and retail concessions, taking over operations from Martin Petroleum and HMSHost. Florida Turnpike Services, L.L.C., Areas' partner, replaced the Citgo brand with Shell, the current brand for gas stations along the turnpike. Many of the restaurant brands were also changed over, with Dunkin' Donuts replacing Starbucks locations as well as KFC, Pizza Hut, Villa Pizza and Wendy's replacing most Popeyes and Burger King locations. The reconstruction and renovation of six of the service plazas began on November 1, 2010, to be completed in 2012. The Okahumpka and Ft. Pierce plazas will begin reconstruction when the other plaza projects are complete. Total renovation costs are estimated at $160 million.