State Road 686 (SR 686) is an east–west route in Pinellas County, running from U.S. Route 19 Alternate (Alt. US 19) in Largo east to an intersection with SR 687 (4th Street) and SR 694 (Gandy Boulevard) in St. Petersburg, Florida. Originally, SR 686 extended further west, ending at Gulf Boulevard in Belleair Beach, next to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.
Route description SR 686 begins at US 19 Alt, running east as East Bay Drive. It runs through Largo, where it crosses an interchange with US 19 and east of the intersection, SR 686 is known as Roosevelt Boulevard, named for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It then travels in a southeastern direction through Clearwater, intersecting CR 611 south of the Bayside Bridge and on the west side of St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport. Here, SR 686A begins and runs raised in the median of SR 686 until it intersects SR 688 (Ulmerton Road). SR 686 then heads east with a concurrency with SR 688 for just under a mile. At the end of the concurrency, SR 686 once again heads southeast, entering St. Petersburg. An interchange with Interstate 275 (I-275) follows, and SR 686 ends at the intersection with SR 687 (4th Street) and SR 694 (Gandy Boulevard).
Major intersections
State Road 686A
State Road 686A (SR 686A) is a controlled-access toll road in St. Petersburg. The route begins at CR 611 just south of the Bayside Bridge in Largo, along SR 686 (Roosevelt Boulevard), before branching off until terminating at SR 690, another controlled-access toll road, where it runs along CR 296 (118th Avenue) in Pinellas Park. SR 686A and SR 690 both constitute the Gateway Expressway.
SR 686A is long, while SR 690 is long. SR 690 runs from US 19 in Pinellas Park east along CR 296 before terminating at I-275 in St. Petersburg.
County Road 416
County Road 416 extends from Gulf Boulevard in Belleair Beach, east to Seminole Boulevard/Missouri Avenue in Largo. The entirety of the route was previously signed as SR 686. From Gulf Boulevard in Belleair Beach, through Belleair Bluffs to Indian Rocks Road, the road is called the Belleair Causeway. In Largo, it becomes West Bay Drive. West Bay Drive is historically Largo's "Main Street".
References
Further reading Largo Area Historical Society. From Pines and Palmettos—A portrait of Largo. The Donning Company Publishers. Virginia Beach, Va. 2005. Largo Bicentennial Book Committee. Largo, then till . . . . Largo Area Historical Society. 1979. Pinellas County Staff. Pinellas County GIS Viewer. Online May 6, 2006.
External links