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U.S. Route 17
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U.S. Highway 17 (also known as the Coastal Highway) is a north-south United States highway. The highway spans the southeastern United States and is close to the Atlantic Coast for much of its length. The highway's southern terminus is at Punta Gorda, Florida, at an intersection with U.S. Highway 41. Traveling north, US 17 joins up with US 50 in Paris, Virginia, and the northern terminus of US 17 is in downtown Winchester, Virginia. This is also the point at which the portion of US 50 called the Northwestern Turnpike begins.
Though U.S. Route 1 is generally considered to be the highway that runs alongside Interstate 95, US 17 runs parallel to I-95 for much of its extent, and even shares the same route for short spans in Fredericksburg and Ridgeland.
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Florida
US 17 begins in downtown Punta Gorda, Florida, at US 41 (Cross Street), just to the west of Tamiami Trail.
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Encyclopedia
U.S. Highway 17 (also known as the Coastal Highway) is a north-south United States highway. The highway spans the southeastern United States and is close to the Atlantic Coast for much of its length. The highway's southern terminus is at Punta Gorda, Florida, at an intersection with U.S. Highway 41. Traveling north, US 17 joins up with US 50 in Paris, Virginia, and the northern terminus of US 17 is in downtown Winchester, Virginia. This is also the point at which the portion of US 50 called the Northwestern Turnpike begins.
Though U.S. Route 1 is generally considered to be the highway that runs alongside Interstate 95, US 17 runs parallel to I-95 for much of its extent, and even shares the same route for short spans in Fredericksburg and Ridgeland.
Route description
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- Orlando, Florida
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Brunswick, Georgia
- Savannah, Georgia
- Charleston, South Carolina
- Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
- Wilmington, North Carolina
- Portsmouth, Virginia
- Chesapeake, Virginia
- Newport News, Virginia
- Fredericksburg, Virginia
- Winchester, Virginia
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Florida
US 17 begins in downtown Punta Gorda, Florida, at US 41 (Cross Street), just to the west of Tamiami Trail. After a brief jog east, it runs roughly north along the Peace River, through Arcadia, Zolfo Springs (where it crosses the Peace River) and Wauchula. At Fort Meade, it joins with US 98, which follows it northward (westward on US 98) until Bartow. While US 98 goes northwest, US 17 goes northeast.
US 17 begins a long concurrency with US 92 just north of Winter Haven (US 92 following eastbound), which takes both highways through Kissimmee, where they join US 192. When all three meet US 441, US 192 follows US 441 southbound, while US 17-92 follows US 441 north into downtown Orlando. US 17-92 then splits from US 441 at SR 50 (Colonial Drive) and jogs east, splitting back north from SR 50 when it meets SR 15 (Mills Avenue).
In Seminole County, the redevelopment of the 17-92 Community Redevelopment Area is handled by the US 17-92 Community Redevelopment Agency, a component unit of the County government. In Sanford, Florida, US 17-92 crosses the St. Johns River into Volusia County via an unnamed bridge.
US 92 then splits away from US 17 north of DeLand, with US 92 continuing east to Daytona Beach as International Speedway Boulevard, while US 17 continues north toward Palatka, where it again crosses the St. Johns River.
In Clay County, US 17 runs through suburban Jacksonville. The northern stretch of US 17 in Clay County is known as Park Avenue.
In Jacksonville, the southern portion of US 17 is known as Roosevelt Boulevard. Here, the highway goes through NAS Jax. Near downtown Jacksonville, US 17 joins Interstate 10 for approximately one mile, before merging into Interstate 95. US 17 then exits onto Union Street and continues as North Main Street until the Nassau County border.
In Nassau County, US 17 continues until it reaches the Georgia border, crossing over the St. Marys River.
Georgia
In Woodbine, Georgia, US 17 crosses the Satilla River by way of the J. Edwin Godley Bridge. In Brunswick, the route traverses the South Brunswick River over the Sidney Lanier Bridge, then across the Altamaha River bridge between Glynn County and McIntosh County. At the South Carolina state line, US 17 crosses the Savannah River on the Eugene Talmadge Bridge.
The section of US 17 known as the "Gateway to Historic Brunswick and The Golden Isles" was included in The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation's 2006 list of Places in Peril.
South Carolina
US 17 enters into South Carolina in Jasper County as a two-lane road and within eight miles (13 km) enters Hardeeville, where it becomes a four-lane configuration. US 17 intersects Interstate 95 in Hardeeville and runs parallel to Interstate 95 until Ridgeland, where it merges with the interstate until Point South. At Point South, US 17 leaves Interstate 95 and heads eastward into northern Beaufort County, sharing a concurrency with U.S. 21 until Gardens Corner. US 21 splits off to Beaufort while US 17 heads northeast into the ACE Basin and Colleton County.
Once in Jacksonboro, the road enters into Charleston County crossing over the Edisto River and regaining a four-lane configuration for the remainder of the state. The road passes through several rural communities as it approaches Charleston from the west. In Charleston, US 17 traverses the Ashley River Drawbridges and comes onto the Charleston Peninsula, being routed north of the historical areas of the city. Upon reaching the Interstate 26 terminus, US 17 becomes limited-access and above grade as it approaches the Cooper River via the Arthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge and the stretch of US 17 in Charleston is infamous among locals for its traffic congestion, especially on weekday mornings. The section running from S.C. Highway 171 to Sam Rittenberg Boulevard has been named the "Charleston Nine Memorial Highway", in honor of nine Charleston firefighters killed in the line of duty in the Charleston Sofa Super Store fire on June 18, 2007.
Upon crossing the river, the highway enters Mount Pleasant at grade and is signalized for several miles up through the second interchange with Interstate 526 and connecting roads to the Isle of Palms and Sullivan's Island. The road leaves the Charleston metro area by entering into the Francis Marion National Forest and going through the rural communities of Awendaw and McClellanville on its northeastern journey to Georgetown. US 17 makes a spectacular crossing of the marsh-lined Santee River as it enters Georgetown County. After going around Georgetown, US 17 eventually enters enters into Horry County and passes Surfside Beach, Murrells Inlet and arrives in Myrtle Beach, where it splits between a business route and the standard route, which remains west of the beach and tourist areas served by Business 17. The roads rejoin north of the city and continue as US 17 through Atlantic Beach, North Myrtle Beach, and Little River before crossing into North Carolina over the Little River bridge.
North Carolina
In Wilmington, North Carolina, US 17 (here concurrent with Interstate 140) crosses the Northeast Cape Fear River between New Hanover County and Brunswick County over the Dan Cameron Bridge. Between New Bern and James City, US 17 (concurrent with US 70 and NC 55) crosses the Trent River by way of the Freedom Memorial Bridge. Farther east, between James City and Bridgeton, US 17, still concurrent with NC 55, crosses the Neuse River over the Neuse River Bridge.
In Washington, US 17 crosses the Pamlico River over the Pamlico-Tar River Bridge. Farther along, in Williamston, US 17 (concurrent with US 13) uses the Roanoke River Bridge to cross the Roanoke River, then the Cashie River Bridge to cross the Cashie River at Windsor. At the Bertie County-Chowan County line, US 17 traverses the Chowan River on the Chowan River Bridge. South of Hertford, US 17 (here concurrent with NC 37) crosses the Perquimans River via the Perquimans River Bridge. Between Perquimans County and Pasquotank County, US 17 crosses the Little River over the Little River Bridge. Finally, the route crosses the Pasquotank River between Pasquotank County, North Carolina and Camden County, North Carolina on the Pasquotank River Bridge.
Virginia
US 17 crosses the James River between Newport News and Isle of Wight County on the James River Bridge, a drawbridge which was formerly a toll bridge but is now toll-free, concurrent with U.S. Route 258. The route also crosses the York River between Gloucester County and York County at Yorktown on the George P. Coleman Bridge, a drawbridge which is also a toll bridge. Finally, US 17 traverses the Rappahannock River between Stafford County and Spotsylvania County at Fredericksburg as it overlaps Interstate 95.
History
Florida
From 1956 until 1993, US 17 signs in Florida featured black numbering on a yellow shield. The "color-coding" of U.S. Routes by the Florida Department of Transportation was stopped when the state could no longer use Federal funds to replace the signs with anything but the standard black-and-white version; a few yellow US 17 signs remain.
Hurricane Charley Highway
On August 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley made landfall just before 4:00 p.m. local time near the southern terminus of US 17. Incredibly, Charley would either hit or threaten to hit the entire route of US 17, devastating almost the entire route in Florida, at least from Punta Gorda to well north of Orlando (when Charley followed the route of Interstate 4 out to sea). The Georgia stretch of US 17 was not hit, but was under a hurricane warning. When Charley made landfall again in South Carolina, its trail all the way through Virginia was close to the route of US 17.
Major intersections
Virginia
North Carolina
- US 158 between Morgans Corner, North Carolina and west of Elizabeth City, North Carolina (shared route)
- US 13 in Windsor, North Carolina begin US 13 concurrency
- US 13, and US 64 in Williamston, North Carolina end US 13 concurrency
- US 264 in Washington, North Carolina
- US 70 in New Bern, North Carolina
- Interstate 40 and Interstate 140 in Wilmington, North Carolina
- US 74 , US 76, US 117 , and US 421 in Wilmington, North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Florida
- Interstate 95 in Becker, Florida
- I-95, I-10, US 1, US 23 and US 90 in Jacksonville, Florida
- US 92 in DeLand begin US 92 concurrency
- Interstate 4 northwest of Sanford
- Interstate 4 in Orlando
- US 441 between Orlando, Florida and Kissimmee, Florida (shared route)
- US 27 in Haines City as US 17-92
- US 92 south of Lake Alfred end US 92 concurrency
- US 98 in Bartow, Florida begin US 98 concurrency.
- US 98 in Fort Meade, Florida end US 98 concurrency.
- Interstate 75 in Solana, Florida
See also
Related routes
Bannered and suffixed routes
- U.S. Route 17 Alternate from Georgetown, South Carolina to Pocotaligo, South Carolina
- U.S. Route 17 Alternate in Jacksonville, Florida
- U.S. Route 17 Alternate in Jacksonville, Florida
- U.S. Route 17 Alternate in Savannah, Georgia
- U.S. Route 17 Business in Fredericksburg, Virginia
- U.S. Route 17 Business in Elizabeth City, North Carolina
- U.S. Route 17 Bypass near Elizabeth City, North Carolina
- Truck Business US 17 in Elizabeth City, North Carolina
- U.S. Route 17 Business in Jacksonville, North Carolina
- U.S. Route 17 Business in Wilmington, North Carolina
- U.S. Route 17 Business near Bolivia, North Carolina
- U.S. Route 17 Business in Shallotte, North Carolina
- U.S. Route 17 Business in Williamston, North Carolina
- U.S. Route 17 Business in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
- U.S. Route 17 Truck in Kissimmee, Florida
- U.S. Route 17 Truck in Winter Park, Florida
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