History
It was originally built by H. L. Mills Construction Company as a two-lane tollway connecting the two coasts of Florida, as a part of State Road 84 (which is currently the hidden designation of the highway). After it was determined that I-75 was using this route for the Tampa-Miami extension instead of the Tamiami Trail in 1973, it was widened to four lanes between 1986 and 1992, with many bridges designed to let water and wildlife pass underneath. This helped to reduce the environmental impact of the highway somewhat, especially upon the severely endangered Florida panther, as well as reducing the danger of the highway, which was notorious for high-speed accidents.
A state effort to privatize Alligator Alley failed in May 2009 when no bids were received for the highway that met the required terms.
In January 2000, the west end toll plaza of Alligator Alley was dedicated to the memory of Edward J. Beck, a toll taker who was murdered while on the job, January 30, 1974.
Read more about this topic: Alligator Alley
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“There is a constant in the average American imagination and taste, for which the past must be preserved and celebrated in full-scale authentic copy; a philosophy of immortality as duplication. It dominates the relation with the self, with the past, not infrequently with the present, always with History and, even, with the European tradition.”
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“Well, for us, in history where goodness is a rare pearl, he who was good almost takes precedence over he who was great.”
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“Only the history of free peoples is worth our attention; the history of men under a despotism is merely a collection of anecdotes.”
—Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort (1741–1794)