Florida State Road 44 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids State Road 44
SR 44 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by FDOT
Length	102.786 mi (165.418 km)
Existed	1945 renumbering (definition)–present
Western section
Length	49.155 mi (79.107 km)
West end	US 19 / US 98 in Crystal River
Major junctions	US 41 in Inverness I-75 near Wildwood US 301 in Wildwood
East end	US 441 in Leesburg
Central section
Length	52.198 mi (84.005 km)
West end	US 441 in Mount Dora
Major junctions	US 17 / US 92 in DeLand I-4 near DeLand I-95 in New Smyrna Beach US 1 in New Smyrna Beach
East end	SR A1A in New Smyrna Beach
Eastern section
Length	1.433 mi (2.306 km)
West end	North Riverside Drive in New Smyrna Beach
East end	Peninsula Avenue in New Smyrna Beach
Location
Highway system
Florida State and County Roads Interstate • US • SR (Pre-1945) • Toll • County ← SR 43 SR 45 →

State Road 44 (SR 44) is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of Florida. It runs from Crystal River on the Gulf of Mexico east to New Smyrna Beach on the Atlantic Ocean, passing through Inverness, Wildwood, Leesburg and DeLand.

A section in Lake County, between eastern Leesburg and a point north of Mount Dora, is concurrent with U.S. Highway 441 (SR 500). This concurrency is not signed; signs on US 441 mark it as TO SR 44. The former alignment of SR 44 in that area is now mostly County Road 44, which runs north of Lake Eustis, on the other side as US 441 and current SR 44.

A former western extension of SR 44 from Crystal River to the Gulf of Mexico is now County Road 44. In some locations, it is signed as County Road 44W.

History

In Lake County, SR 44 originally passed through downtown Leesburg on Main Street, merging with US 441 east of downtown. It then split to the north on current County Road 44, passing north of Lake Eustis. North of Eustis, it turned southeast on present County Road 452, merging with State Road 19 into downtown Eustis, where it turned east on Orange Avenue to rejoin current SR 44 east of Eustis.

The current alignment around the south side of Leesburg was taken over ca. 1986. It had previously been State Road 468 from the west end to U.S. Highway 27 (SR 25) and State Road 33 from roughly Canal Street east to Main Street, but was given to the county by the early 1980s.

At some point, SR 44 from US 441 east of Leesburg to State Road 19 north of Eustis was given to the county and numbered County Road 44; the route via US 441 and SR 19 south of Lake Eustis became SR 44. CR 44 has since been realigned to bypass Eustis to the north.

SR 44 was realigned around downtown Eustis in 2005, taking over what had been County Road 44B between US 441 and SR 44 east of Eustis. The Florida Department of Transportation gave SR 44 west of CR 44B to Lake County. CR 44B had been marked from US 441 as a bypass to SR 44 east and from SR 44 as a bypass to US 441 south, as part of a longer bypass of Eustis also including County Road 44 north and west to SR 19.

Major intersections

County	Location	Mile	Roads intersected	Notes
Citrus	Crystal River	0.000	0.000	US 19 / US 98 (North Suncoast Boulevard / SR 55) – Homosassa Springs, St. Petersburg, Inglis, Crystal River Archaeological State Park
	​	2.378	3.827	CR 486 east (West Norvell Bryant Highway) – Hernando
	Lecanto	6.811	10.961	CR 490 west (West Homosassa Trail) – Homosassa Springs, Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Historic State Park
		7.310	11.764	CR 491 (South Lecanto Highway) – Ocala, Beverly Hills, Brooksville, College of Central Florida Citrus Campus
	Inverness	15.906	25.598	CR 581 south (South Pleasant Grove Road) – Brooksville
		16.581	26.685	To CR 581 north / Davidson Avenue
		16.668	26.825	US 41 north (SR 45) – Hernando, Dunnellon	west end of US 41 / SR 45 overlap
		17.615	28.349	US 41 south (SR 45) – Floral City, Brooksville, Fort Cooper State Park	east end of US 41 / SR 45 overlap
	​	21.105	33.965	CR 470 west (East Gospel Island Road)
Sumter	​	27.294	43.925	CR 470 east – Lake Panasoffkee
	​	30.970	49.841	CR 475 north
	​	32.70	52.63	I-75 (SR 93) to Florida's Turnpike – Ocala, Tampa	I-75 exit 329
	​	33.698	54.232	CR 44A east
	Wildwood	36.282	58.390	US 301 (SR 35) – The Villages, Belleview, Coleman
	Orange Home	39.387	63.387	CR 44A west
	Wildwood	41.012	66.002	CR 468 west
Lake	Leesburg	44.641	71.843	CR 468 north / West Main Street – Leesburg, Downtown
		46.929	75.525	US 27 (South 14th Street / SR 25) to Florida's Turnpike – Ocala, Clermont
		49.155	79.107	US 441 (North Boulevard / SR 500) to SR 44 east
	Gap in route
	Mount Dora	0.000	0.000	US 441 (SR 500) to SR 44 west / Donnelly Street – Mount Dora, Orlando	former CR 44B
	Eustis	2.110	3.396	East Orange Avenue - Eustis, Eustis By-Pass to SR 19 north
	​	4.074	6.556	CR 439 north
	​	7.110	11.442	CR 437 – Sorrento
	​	8.263	13.298	CR 46A south – Sanford
	Cassia	11.672	18.784	CR 44A west
	Crows Bluff	22.667	36.479	CR 42 west – Paisley, Altoona
St. Johns River		22.97	36.97	Francis P. Whitehair Bridge
Volusia	​	25.472	40.993	CR 4053 north (Grand Avenue) – Glenwood
	​	26.172	42.120	CR 4110 west (Old New York Avenue) – Hontoon Island State Park, Amtrak
	DeLand	26.880	43.259	SR 15A (Spring Garden Avenue) – by-pass to US 17 / US 92
		28.140	45.287	US 17 / US 92 (Woodland Boulevard / SR 15 / SR 600) – Daytona Beach, Orange City, DeLeon Springs
	​	30.840	49.632	CR 4101 (Kepler Road)
	DeLand	32.082	51.631	CR 4139 south – Lake Helen, Cassadaga, Daytona State College
	​	33.00	53.11	I-4 (SR 400) – Daytona Beach, Sanford	I-4 exit 118
	​	33.770	54.348	Prevatt Avenue - Lake Helen
	​	39.692	63.878	CR 4118 east (Pioneer Trail)
	Samsula	43.244	69.594	SR 415 south / CR 415 north – Osteen, Sanford
	New Smyrna Beach	48.16	77.51	I-95 (SR 9) – Jacksonville, Miami	I-95 exit 249
		51.191	82.384	SR 44 Bus. east to US 1 – Atlantic Center for the Arts
		52.1	83.8	US 1 (SR 5) to SR A1A north	interchange; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		52.198	84.005	SR A1A south to SR 44 east (North Causeway) – Beaches
		Gap in route
		0.000	0.000	North Riverside Drive
		1.22	1.96	North Causeway over Indian River (Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway)
		1.433	2.306	Peninsula Avenue
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Related roads

State Road 44 Business

State Road 44 Business
Location:	New Smyrna Beach

State Road 44 Business is a state road in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The latest GIS data has it listed as SR 44 even though there are two signs which have "business" tabs on them. Business 44 was the old alignment of SR 44 through downtown New Smyrna Beach.

County Road 44W (Citrus County)

County Road 44W exists as the western tip of old State Road 44, south of Crystal River. The suffix, "W", was most likely added to not confuse this section with State Road 44, to the north, and to show its location by being west of US 19 and US 98(SR 55). As with the majority of these type of 'coastal spur' routes, in West Central Florida, it is county maintained.

County Road 44A (Sumter County)

County Road 44A exists along the north side of State Road 44 in Wildwood and Orange Home. The road begins southeast of the interchange with Interstate 75, and instantly intersects with CR 225, which runs north and south, while CR 44A runs directly east and west until it curves slightly to the right and becomes Kilgore Street. The road then moves south onto Central Avenue running parallel to the CSX line until reaching Lynum Street, and crosses the tracks until Lynum Street terminates at US 301. County Road 44A then not only crosses US 301 to enter Huey Street, but the wye for the former Leesburg and Tavares railroad line. One block away, CR 44A breaks away from Huey Street and curves south before running along the north side of the right-of-way of the previously mentioned abandoned railroad line. The line contained a series of abandoned freight cars until the 2000s (decade), and the road and railroad line followed each other until CR 44A terminates at a recreational vehicle park in Orange Home.

Lake County

County Road 44 is a county highway in Lake County in the U.S. state of Florida. It runs from U.S. Route 441 near Leesburg in the west to State Road 44 near Mount Dora in the east.

The western terminus County Road 44 is at an intersection with the concurrency of U.S. Route 441, State Road 44, and State Road 500 at the eastern edge of Leesburg, near Leesburg Regional Airport. From there, it heads northeast past Silver Lake, then east past Lake Eustis, before arriving in the town of Eustis.

In Eustis, CR 44 intersects State Road 19. There, CR 44 splits into two branches. The northern branch heads east from the intersection to its terminus at County Road 44A. The southern branch continues south from the intersection, concurrent with SR 19, before turning east on East Orange Avenue. It then passes by Lake Joanna before terminating at State Road 44 between the towns of Eustis and Mount Dora.

County Road 44 Leg A is a short spur near CR 44's western terminus in Leesburg. It serves as an alternate route for northbound US 441 traffic to reach eastbound CR 44.

County Road 44A

County Road 44A is an east/west county road in Lake County in the U.S. state of Florida. Its western terminus is at State Road 19 in Umatilla, and its eastern terminus is at State Road 44 about 10 miles (16 km) east of Mount Dora.

The western terminus of County Road 44A is at an intersection with State Road 19 in the town of Umatilla. CR 44A heads out of Umatilla eastward on Rose Street before turning south. Then in Dalhousie Acres (near Lake Dalhousie), it intersects County Road 450A before continuing south towards Eustis.

On the eastern edge of Eustis, CR 44A intersects one of the eastern termini of County Road 44 before turning east once again on DeLand Road. It then continues east on DeLand Road for approximately 9.4 miles (15.1 km), passing by Black Bear Golf Club, before reaching its eastern terminus at State Road 44.

County Road 44B

County Road 44B, formerly a short north/south county route in the Mount Dora area. In 2004, CR 44B was turned over to State Road 44 when SR 44 was re-routed out of downtown Eustis, with SR 44 becoming a complete eastern and southern bypass of Eustis. The remaining portion of SR 44 through Eustis was reverted to CR 44, and remains unsigned to this day.

County Road 44C

County Road 44C, is Eudora Road, a short north/south county route also in the Mount Dora area. It spans from the convoluted intersection between Old County Road 441 and the eastern terminus of County Road 19A to US 441-SR 44 almost crossing the Mount Dora-Eustis border.

Images for kids

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  SR 44 as a divided highway west of Inverness.

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  The many truck stops and travel plazas on SR 44 at Interstate 75 in Wildwood. Florida's Turnpike is nearby on the southbound on-ramp.

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  Sign along SR 44 for Seminole State Forest and Camp Boggy Creek.