State Road 46 (SR 46) is an east–west route in central Florida, running from U.S. Route 441 (US 441) in Mount Dora to

US 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...

in Mims. Along the way, it crosses the

Wekiva River The Wekiva River (sometimes spelled Wekiwa, a Creek word meaning "spring of water") is a river in Central Florida, north of Orlando in the United States. It originates in Apopka and joins the St. Johns River, the longest river in the state, in ...

and, further east, the

St. Johns River The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...

near the

Econlockhatchee River The Econlockhatchee River (Econ River for short) is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 21, 2011 north-flowing blackwater tributary of the St. Johns River. The Ec ...

. County Road 46 continues west from the western terminus to County Road Old 441 in Mount Dora.

Route description

State Road 46 begins as Sanford Road at an at-grade intersection with US 441, where it changes from a County Road to a State Road. Here, there are direct ramp movements connecting southbound US 441 with eastbound State Route 46 and westbound State Road 46 to northbound US 441. After the intersection with Round Lake Road, SR 46 turns northeast and runs parallel to an abandoned railroad line, which it then curves away from, but then encounters at a former grade crossing in

Sorrento Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana rail ...

just west of the intersection with County Road 437, which shares a brief concurrency with SR 46 for several blocks. East of Sorrento, the road becomes Sorrento Avenue, a name it maintains as it passes by County Road 435 in

Mount Plymouth Mount Plymouth or Mount Osorno is a conspicuous peak rising to 520 m in the northeast extremity of Dryanovo Heights, Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The peak has precipitous and partly ice-free northern slopes, and sur ...

, and then

Seminole State Forest The Seminole State Forest is in the U.S. state of Florida. The forest is located in Central Florida, near Eustis. Access to the forest is available from Florida State Road 44, Lake County Road 46A and Florida State Road 46. Surrounding parks a ...

. Before entering the forest however, SR 46 passes by Mount Plymouth Lake to the south, intersecting County Road 46A at an at-grade intersection and the current northern terminus of State Route 429 at a modified diamond interchange, merging onto the latter's future alignment. Here, State Road 46 also encounters the same right-of-way for the abandoned railroad to the north, which runs parallel to the road as even after it leaves the forest on a bridge over the

at the Lake- Seminole County line becoming North Henderson Lane, and running along the south end of

Lower Wekiva River Preserve State Park Lower Wekiva River Preserve State Park is an Florida State Park located on six miles (10 km) of the St. Johns River in Lake and Seminole counties. The park forms a wildlife corridor to the Ocala National Forest along the Wekiva and St. ...

. After the intersections with Orange Avenue and Wayside Drive, SR 46 becomes a four lane divided highway before reaching the interchange with

Interstate 4 Interstate 4 (I-4) is an Interstate Highway located entirely within the U.S. state of Florida, maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Spanning along a generally southwest–northeast axis, I-4 is entirely concurrent wi ...

, and later joins a concurrency with U.S. Route 17/92, the latter of these routes is in a wrong-way concurrency. Along this segment, US 17/92/SR 46 passes by the Sanford

SunRail SunRail is a commuter rail system in the Greater Orlando, Florida, area. Services began on May 1, 2014. The system comprises 16 stations along a former CSX Transportation line connecting Volusia County and Osceola County through Downtown Orland ...

station before it climbs a bridge over the CSX

Sanford Subdivision The Sanford Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in Florida. The line runs along CSX's A Line from St. Johns (near Jacksonville) south through Palatka to DeLand. At its north end it continues south from the Jacksonville ...

then intersects Persimmon Avenue, a road leading to the Sanford Auto Train Station, and former passenger station. Eventually the triple-concurrency enters the City of Sanford where it is renamed West First Street. Closer to downtown Sanford the divider ends west of Avocado Avenue, but begins again before it turns south onto South French Avenue. During this triple-concurrency, US 17-92-SR 46 intersects a pair of railroad crossings at a junction of two freight lines, and then another one at the intersection of West 13th Street, also the western terminus of County Road 415. SR 46 then branches off to the east again at H.E. Thomas Jr. Parkway (County Road 46A) and 25th Street. SR 46 runs along the northern border of the

Orlando Sanford International Airport Orlando Sanford International Airport is in Sanford, Florida, United States, near Orlando. It was built as Naval Air Station Sanford, a Master Jet Base for carrier-based attack and reconnaissance aircraft, and was used by the U.S. Navy until 1 ...

, then after the southern terminus of State Road 415, uses a bridge over

Lake Jesup Lake Jesup is the largest lake in Seminole County, Florida, United States and is one of many that make up the St. Johns River. Located along the middle basin of the St. Johns, the lake encompasses an area of approximately , including open water ...

at the St. Johns River then become Geneva Avenue as it heads southeast. East of Geneva, the road crosses the St. Johns River itself using the Mims Bridge south of Lake Harney, and entering Volusia County. The journey through Volusia is short-lived though, because the road quickly enters Brevard County and turns straight east at Southmere, where it becomes Carpenter Road. SR 46 finally enters Mims in the vicinity of

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...

at Exit 223, and then ends at

History

The intersection at the western terminus of State Route 46 and US 441 was previously a diamond interchange, but was downgraded as part of the Wekiva Parkway project. County Road 46A previously cut through a portion of the Seminole State Forest and met State Road 46 further east, but was realigned to meet State Road 46 west of it to reduce its impact. Between State Road 429 and the Lake-Seminole County Line, State Road 46 was realigned to follow the future alignment of State Road 429, resulting in a few segments of highway being bypassed and orphaned.

Future

SR 46 will be truncated at its interchanges with SR 453 and SR 429 when the Wekiva Parkway project is completed in 2022, resulting in two discontinuous segments.

Major intersections

Related routes

County Road 46

County Road 46 is a county extension of State Road 46 in Mount Dora in Lake County in

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 runs along East First Avenue from CR Old 441 in the west to a diamond interchange with U.S. Route 441 and SR 46 in the east. West of Old CR 441, East First Avenue is a city street in Mount Dora.

County Road 46A (Lake County)

County Road 46A is a county suffixed route of SR 46 along the southwest side of

in Lake County. It runs along East First Avenue from State Road 44 east of Mount Dora and Eustis to the west to SR 46 to the east.

County Road 46A (Seminole County)

County Road 46A is another county suffixed route of SR 46 in Seminole County. It is signed along H.E. Thomas Jr. Parkway (former 25th Street) from CR 431 east to

US 17/92 U.S. Route 17 (US 17) in Florida is a north–south United States Highway. It runs from the Punta Gorda, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area northeast to the Greater Jacksonville Metropolitan Area. As is the case with all Florida roads ...

/ SR 46 in Sanford.

References

*Florida State Road Atlas (American Map Corporation; 2003)

External links

{{Commons category, Florida State Road 46
Florida Route Log (SR 46)
046 Econlockhatchee River 046 046 046 046 046