State Road 4 (SR 4) is a two-lane

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in Escambia,

Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, La Pampa * S ...

, and Okaloosa counties in the western corner of the

Florida Panhandle The Florida Panhandle (also West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida; it is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long and wide, lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia (U. ...

. It is signed east–west, but the road is slightly diagonal. The road runs from

Century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

near the

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

state line at an intersection with U.S. Highway 29 (US 29), to the farming community of Milligan at an intersection with US 90. The road cuts through the Blackwater River State Forest. It crosses the

Escambia River The Conecuh River and Escambia River constitute a single river in Alabama and Florida in the United States. The Conecuh River rises near Union Springs in the state and flows in a general southwesterly direction into Florida near Century. The r ...

, West Fork Big Coldwater Creek, Juniper Creek, Manning Creek, East Fork Big Coldwater Creek, Cedar Creek, Beaver Creek, the

Blackwater River A blackwater river is a type of river with a slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands. As vegetation decays, tannins leach into the water, making a transparent, acidic water that is darkly stained, resembling black te ...

, and Penny Creek, all part of the

basin (except for the

Route description

SR 4 heads slightly southeast from its western terminus at

US 29 U.S. Route 29 (US 29) is a north–south United States highway that runs for from Pensacola, Florida to the western suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland in the Southern United States, connecting the Florida Panhandle to the Baltimore-Washington ...

and SR 95 in

in Escambia County, just south of the border with

, and crosses the

into

Santa Rosa County Santa Rosa County is a county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2020, the population is 188,000. The county seat is Milton, which lies in the geographic center of the county. Other major communities within S ...

less than into its journey. The road then turns and runs east into

Jay A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian m ...

, where it intersects with SR 89. SR 4 continues east, then gradually turns southeast to its intersection with SR 87, before turning mostly east again and running through

Blackwater River State Park Blackwater River State Park is a Florida State Park located fifteen miles northeast of Milton, near Harold, off U.S. 90. The address is 7720 Deaton Bridge Road. History The park was certified a Registered State Natural Feature in 1980, for p ...

. Shortly before reaching the eastern edge of the state park, formed by the

, the road crosses into

Okaloosa County Okaloosa County is located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the Alabama state line. As of the 2020 census, the population was 211,668. Its county seat is Crestview. Okaloosa County ...

and turns southeast again to its intersection with SR 189 in

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who bakes and sometimes sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient history Since grains ha ...

, where it briefly turns sharply south. Curving back to the southeast, the road finds its eastern terminus at

US 90 U.S. Route 90 or U.S. Highway 90 (US 90) is an east–west major United States highway in the Southern United States. Despite the "0" in its route number, US 90 never was a full coast-to-coast route. With the exception of a short-lived ...

/ SR 10 in Milligan, just southwest of Crestview. The Florida Department of Transportation

annual average daily traffic Annual average daily traffic, abbreviated AADT, is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a y ...

(AADT) numbers for 2012 show an average of 4,300 vehicles on the Escambia County portion of the road and into Santa Rosa County to Jay, decreasing sharply to 2,600 and then 1,300 vehicles as the road approached its intersection with SR 87. From SR 87 into Okaloosa County the averages increase slightly again to 1,600 per day, and then rise sharply to a high of 7,900 vehicles as SR 4 approaches its eastern terminus from SR 189 to US 90/SR 10.

History

A 1922 map of Florida auto trails shows an auto trail running from McDavid, south of Century, through Munson, a few miles west of the Okaloosa County line, and then to Baker and Milligan. It appears that the portion of today's SR 4 from Munson (starting at mile 25.932) to its eastern terminus corresponds to this 1922 auto trail. In 1935, the current routing of SR 4, from Century in Escambia County into Santa Rosa County, then from Jay through Berrydale to Munson, and east into Okaloosa County, was signed as SR 62, and labeled as a third-class road, which indicates a pavement type of just above a trail, but below bituminous surface conditions. In Okaloosa County, SR 62 runs into Baker as third-class road, but the final stretch from Barker To Milligan had already been improved to a second-class surface. By 1955, SR 4 is being shown as a

bituminous Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

road with its start at the intersection with

SR 97 Route 97, or Highway 97, may refer to: Australia - Olympic Dam Highway, South Australia Canada * British Columbia Highway 97 ** British Columbia Highway 97A ** British Columbia Highway 97B ** British Columbia Highway 97C ** British Columbia ...

west of Century, traveling east, then sharing a concurrency with US 29 heading north through Century, and then heading southeast on today's routing into and through Santa Rosa County. This path west of Century corresponds to today's County Road 4. By 1960, the Okaloosa portion of SR 4 was also bituminous, and the routing of SR 4 extended on what is today known as County Road 4, or Antioch Road, south from Milligan to its terminus on SR 85 south of Crestview. Only about half of this extension was bituminous, to just north of what became

I-10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

, while the southeastern portion of the road was graded and drained, but not surfaced. On maps from 1977 and 1978, the routing of SR 4 west of Century had been re-signed as County Road 4, while the current routing of SR 4 from its western terminus into and through Santa Rosa County had been paved in hard surface. By 1985, the extension of SR 4 south of Milligan had also been re-signed as County Road 4.

Major intersections

Related routes

Escambia County

County Road 4 is a county extension of SR 4 in Escambia County that runs from

east of Walnut Hill to

. North of the eastern terminus, it runs along a hidden concurrency with US 29 to the western terminus of State Road 4.

County Road 4A

County Road 4A is a suffixed alternate

county road A county highway (also county road or county route; usually abbreviated CH or CR) is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the County (United States), county highway departme ...

that begins west of

in northeastern Escambia County. The road begins as an extension of Byrneville Road north of CR 4, and curves to the right where it replaces County Road 168 as the route for State Line Road, as it enters Century. A spur of the road runs southeast towards US 29/SR 4 at the intersection of Front Street.

Okaloosa County

County Road 4 is an extension of SR 4 in Okaloosa County known as Antioch Road. It spans from a secret overlap with US 90/SR 4 east of Milligan southeast toward State Road 85 in southern

Crestview, Florida Crestview is a city in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. The population was 27,134 at the 2020 census, up from 20,978 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Okaloosa County. With an elevation of above sea level, it is one of the h ...

County Road 4A

County Road 4A is a suffixed alternate

north of

in northwestern

of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. It spans east from SR 4 to SR 189, where it then becomes a local street name Holloway Road.

County Road 4B

County Road 4B or Charlie Day Road is another suffixed alternate

, except this one is south of

. The road runs from CR 189 east to SR 4.

References

External links

{{Attached KML, display=title,inline 004 004 004 004 004 004 1945 establishments in Florida