Florida State Road 869 - History

History

Originally planned to be the University-Deerfield Expressway when it was first proposed in 1960, it was supposed to be the northernmost part of a chain of expressways from Deerfield Beach to Coral Gables, but the proposed Snake Creek Expressway (in Broward County) became part of the Florida's Turnpike Extension and the LeJeune-Douglas Expressway (in Dade County) failed in the 1970s as the result of a county wide expressway revolt. On the other hand, the rerouting of Interstate 75 from the Tamiami Trail to Alligator Alley in 1973 increased the necessity of a northern/western bypass of Broward County and in 1983, the newly created Broward County Expressway Authority proposed the Sawgrass-Deerfield Expressway in its current alignment. A series of cost-cutting measures for the proposed toll road included removal of all planned rest stops and a shortening of the name of the road to Sawgrass Expressway (A consultant stated in an interview, "Those overhead signs are damn expensive").

The Sawgrass Expressway broke ground on November 2, 1984, and opened to traffic on July 3, 1986, at a cost of $200 million. The section between I-75 and Sunrise Boulevard opened on August 4, 1988. Bonds were sold in 1984 to finance construction and again in 1986 to partially refund the 1984 bonds. By 1990, however, the Sawgrass Expressway was plagued with a massive debt, light usage and was a subject of local political corruption. Florida's Turnpike Enterprise purchased the Sawgrass Expressway from the Broward County Expressway Authority in December 1990 as part of the expansion program authorized by the Florida Legislature in 1990 Senate Bill 1316. The Expressway, along with SW 10th Street west of I-95, was bannered as State Road 869 in 1995.

When the highway was first built, it was criticized for being a "road to nowhere", as it passed through undeveloped areas for most of its length. The road's $1.50 toll in its first few years was another criticism by local residents, contributing to the road's light usage. Commercial and residential developments boomed along the toll road in the late '80s and throughout the '90s, making it suitable for commuters. The swampland west of the Expressway is an Everglades Water Conservation Area and unlikely to be developed in the foreseeable future. The Sawgrass Expressway experienced its first toll hike on March 7, 2004, increasing the toll rate for non SunPass users to $2.00 for travel over the entire expressway, with SunPass users still using the original toll rates.

Unlike most roads, the Sawgrass Expressway had a mascot, a swamp frog named Cecil B. Sawgrass, who appeared on signs greeting motorists entering the tollway southbound from State Road 845 (Powerline Road), as well as various road signs on the expressway. Signs featuring Cecil are becoming rare, as newer expressway signage uses only the standard TOLL 869 shield. In October 2005, Hurricane Wilma damaged the expressway's welcome sign, resulting in its removal during cleanup.

The expressway was widened from four lanes to its current six lanes between 2008 and 2009.