The Pinellas Bayway System is a series of bridges on two state roads in

Pinellas County, Florida Pinellas County (, ) is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 959,107. The county is part of the Tampa– St. Petersburg– Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistic ...

. It is a

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically ...

complex maintained and operated by the

Florida Department of Transportation The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is a decentralized agency charged with the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of public transportation in the state of Florida. The department was formed in 1969. It absorbed the powers of t ...

. It also is compatible with the SunPass

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system currently in use on all other FDOT-owned toll roads. The Pinellas Bayway consists of: * State Road 682, an east–west divided highway connecting SR 699 on a

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

barrier island Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from ...

near St. Pete Beach, Florida to Interstate 275 ( SR 93) and

US 19 U.S. Route 19 (US 19) is a north–south U.S. Highway in the Eastern United States. Despite encroaching Interstate Highways, the route has remained a long-haul road, connecting the Gulf of Mexico with Lake Erie. The highway's souther ...

( SR 55) in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. The 3.7-mile-long State Road 682 passes over three bridges (toll:$1.00) as it crosses the entrance of

Boca Ciega Bay Boca Ciega Bay is a body of water connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida. It is bordered by Gulfport, St. Petersburg, and other municipalities in Pinellas County.Tierra Verde) and a two-lane southern half serving Fort De Soto Park at the tip of the "hook" (75 cents toll). Motorists traveling the entire length of SR 679 traverse two bridges. The two State Roads intersect on Isla del Sol midway between St. Petersburg and St. Pete Beach. Until 2013, both highways had drawbridges in addition to low-level causeways in their configuration, and SR 679 retains this configuration. Attempts to replace the drawbridges with bridges of a different design in recent years met resistance from both nearby residents, yachtsmen, and the local chapter of the NAACP

As of 2006, studies were being conducted by FDOT as to how the bridges would be replaced and how much they would cost. The low-level causeway and bascule bridge, bascule-type drawbridge on SR 682 were replaced in 2013–2014 by a new high-level causeway without a movable span. The low-level causeway and bascule bridge, bascule-type drawbridge on SR 679 were replaced in 2019–2021 by a new high-level causeway without a movable span. Both Fort DeSoto Park and the Pinellas Bayway opened on December 21, 1962. The east–west portion was then signed SR A19A, a designation it kept until the mid-1980s, when FDOT did a statewide reallocation of state route numbers. Despite the redesignation, some local businesses and residents still refer to A19A when mentioning the Bayway. On October 14, 2000, the portion of SR 679 in Fort De Soto Park was transferred to Pinellas County.

Tolls

The Pinellas Bayway system employs cash and electronic toll collection. Casual users of the Bayway system may use their SunPass or other Florida-compatible electronic toll collection transponders such as

LeeWay Leeway is the amount of drift motion to leeward of an object floating in the water caused by the component of the wind vector that is perpendicular to the object’s forward motion.Bowditch. (1995). The American Practical Navigator. Pub. No. 9. ...

, E-PASS, and E-ZPass. Two discounted annual passes for Bayway Isle residents and commuters are also authorized, in conjunction with SunPass usage. The prices include the rental of transponder for the term of the annual pass. * Bayway Isle residents may purchase a Bayway Isle annual pass for $15 annually, allowing them unlimited passage through the northeast toll plaza only. This discount was authorized at the time of the original construction of the facility. The pass is sold in June of each year and expires on July 1 the following year. * Commuters and other frequent users have the option of purchasing an unlimited pass for $50 annually. This commuter pass, which is good at all three plazas on the Bayway system, is renewable each September, and was authorized by legislation in 1985.

Withdrawn toll increase

On November 28, 2007, the Florida Department of Transportation held a public hearing and revealed that they planned to more than double the cash and Sunpass tolls on the Pinellas Bayway, and to eliminate the $15 Bayway resident pass. The funds from these increased tolls would be used to issue bonds for the eventual improvement of the bridges of the Bayway System. Local public officials (including Mayor

Rick Baker Richard A. Baker (born December 8, 1950), known professionally as Rick Baker, is an American retired special make-up effects creator and actor. He is mostly known for his creature designs and effects. Baker won the Academy Award for Best Make ...

of St. Petersburg) spoke out loudly against what some perceive as an unfair allocation of costs to Pinellas Bayway residents. In February 2008, an ad hoc coalition of affected Homeowner Associations, the Citizens's Bayway Task Force, organized to fight the toll increase. The legislation to increase the tolls on the Pinellas Bayway was withdrawn on March 19, 2008.

Major intersections

Florida State Road 679 junction sign on Pinellas Bayway

SR 679

SR 682

References

External links

{{Bridges of Florida Roads in Pinellas County, Florida Toll bridges in Florida Road bridges in Florida 1962 establishments in Florida Bascule bridges in the United States Causeways in Florida Transportation buildings and structures in Pinellas County, Florida