State Road 865 (SR 865) and County Road 865 (CR 865) are a series of roads serving Lee County,

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 ...

. Originally a continuous state road extending from Bonita Springs to Tice by way of

Fort Myers Beach Fort Myers Beach is a town located on the North end of Estero Island in Lee County, Florida, United States. The town is on the Gulf of Mexico and is accessed from the mainland by a bridge over Estero Bay. The population was 5,582 at the 2020 c ...

and

Fort Myers Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...

, SR 865 now consists of two segments connected by a part of CR 865, which also extends to the north and south of the state segments. Both the state and county controlled segments of the route combined stretch a distance of over , making it the longest designation in Lee County. Until the 1980s, State Road 865 signs were posted along a much longer highway. In the mid 1970s, FDOT designated three large sections of then-SR 865 as secondary routes, which started a process in which these designated sections would be converted to county control. This was part of a series of transformations that particularly affected Southwest Florida.

Route description

Bonita Springs and Fort Myers Beach

The historic southern terminus of SR 865 is an interchange between

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from St ...

(I-75 or SR 93) and Bonita Beach Road in Bonita Springs, though the current county designation actually begins east of the interchange. From there CR 865 follows Bonita Beach Road westward through Bonita Springs to Hickory Boulevard on Bonita Beach (Little Hickory Island), near the

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 ...

shore. Motorists traveling north then cross the

Bonita Beach Causeway The Bonita Beach Causeway is a series of four low-level bridges located in Southwest Florida traversing the barrier islands of Estero Bay (Florida), Estero Bay connecting the town of Fort Myers Beach, Florida, Fort Myers Beach with Bonita Springs ...

, which passes over Big Hickory Island, Long Key and Black Key, which provides access to the Lovers Key / Carl E. Johnson State Park. Once on Estero Island, CR 865 passes through the town of

before connecting to San Carlos Boulevard on the north end of the island. State maintenance begins the intersection of Estero and San Carlos boulevards just east of Bodwitch Point Park. After crossing the Matanzas Pass Bridge and San Carlos Island onto the mainland, SR 865 forms the western boundary of

Estero Bay Preserve State Park Estero Bay Preserve State Park, the first aquatic nature preserve established in Florida, is a Florida State Park located near Estero, between Fort Myers and Naples. It consists of the water, inlets, and islands along of Estero Bay. Activit ...

adjacent to Hurricane Bay.

Iona and South Fort Myers

San Carlos Boulevard then intersects with Summerlin Road (CR 869), which is a grade-separated

single-point urban interchange A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic thr ...

, with Summerlin Road crossing above on an overpass. This interchange also provides access to

Sanibel Island Sanibel is an island and city in Lee County, Florida, United States. The population was 6,382 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The island, also known as Sanibel Island, constitut ...

. The southern section of SR 865 continues northward its northern terminus, an intersection with McGregor Boulevard, which is SR 867 to the northeast of the intersection, and CR 867 to the southwest, a more direct route connecting downtown Fort Myers to the popular Sanibel and Captiva islands. At this point, SR 865 ends and CR 865 resumes, proceeding east along Gladiolus Drive. East of here, CR 865 intersects Summerlin Road (CR 869) again, this time at an at-grade intersection with two left-turning

flyover ramp An overpass (called an overbridge or flyover in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries) is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway. An ''overpass'' and ''underpass'' together form ...

s. It passes by Lakes Park before intersecting with

U.S. Route 41 U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miami, ...

(US 41), where the route transitions yet again to SR 865. Extending only in South Fort Myers, the northern section of SR 865 is locally known as the Ben C. Pratt Six Mile Cypress Parkway. It begins at

Tamiami Trail The Tamiami Trail () is the southernmost of U.S. Highway 41 (US 41) from State Road 60 (SR 60) in Tampa to US 1 in Miami. A portion of the road also has the hidden designation of State Road 90 (SR 90). The north� ...

(

US 41 U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miami, ...

) and terminates at an intersection with Metro and Michael G. Rippe Parkways ( SR 739). This portion of the parkway historically served as the first mile of the

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad which existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, t ...

's Punta Rassa Branch. Though this section runs in east–west route, it is still signed as a north–south route to be consistent with the adjacent county-controlled segments.

East Fort Myers and Tice

Beyond the northern section's terminus at SR 739, historic SR 865 continues along Six Mile Cypress Parkway and turns north passing the Lee County Sports Complex, which contains

Hammond Stadium Hammond Stadium is a baseball field located in the CenturyLink Sports Complex in South Fort Myers, Florida, United States. The stadium was built in 1991, and underwent major renovations in 2014 and 2015. The spring training home of the Minnesota ...

, the spring training home of the Minnesota Twins

major league baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

team. As it turns north, it parallels the Six Mile Cypress Slough. At Colonial Boulevard ( SR 884), historic SR 865 becomes Ortiz Avenue and parallels

to its northern terminus, an intersection with Palm Beach Boulevard ( SR 80) in Tice. Parts of Ortiz Avenue were originally signed State Road 80B before being connected to the rest of SR 865.General Highway Map, Lee County, January 1976, reprinted January 1980

History

The entire route of SR 865 came into existence incrementally over the span of many decades. Gladiolus Drive originally existed to serve gladiolus fields in Iona and Biggar. Lee County was once known as the gladiolus capital of the world, with the A&W Bulb Company being one of the major operators of the fields. San Carlos Boulevard was built in 1927 to serve as a more direct route from McGregor Boulevard (SR 867) to Fort Myers Beach, replacing an earlier route that traversed present-day Bunche Beach. Estero Boulevard, San Carlos Boulevard and Gladiolus Drive were first designated State Road 278 in 1935. State Road 278 would become State Road 865 during the

1945 Florida State Road renumbering On June 11, 1945, Florida's state roads were renumbered. The old system numbered routes in the order they were legislated, while the new system used a grid. Notes See also *Florida State Roads The State Highway System of the U.S. st ...

. The northernmost of San Carlos Boulevard (in Iona) was renumbered SR 867 when McGregor Boulevard was realigned slightly south in the early 1980s (Old McGregor Boulevard is the former alignment). Gladiolus Drive would also be realigned to the south in the early 1990s (Paul Schultz Way is the former alignment of Gladiolus Drive). Estero Boulevard reached the southern tip of Fort Myers Beach by 1950. Upon the completion of the

in 1965, the SR 865 designation was extended south from Fort Myers Beach through Bonita Springs along Hickory Boulevard and Bonita Beach Road. Bonita Beach Road was developed in the 1950s as Bonita Springs main east–west thoroughfare. The construction of Six Mile Cypress Parkway was the final link in the entire route, which opened around 1978 to provide improved access from the area to Interstate 75 (which opened in 1979). With the completion of Six Mile Cypress, Gladiolus Drive was realigned to the north at the intersection with US 41. The SR 865 designation then continued along Six Mile Cypress, which ran east along a former railroad spur, then turned north along the Six Mile Cypress Slough to connect with Ortiz Avenue (which existed previously as State Road 80B). The entire route from Bonita Springs to Tice would only be designated SR 865 for a short time before the state relinquished portions to the county.

Major intersections

References

External links

*{{commons category inline, Florida State Road 865

865 __NOTOC__ Year 865 ( DCCCLXV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * King Louis the German divides the East Frankish Kingdom among his three sons. C ...

Transportation in Fort Myers, Florida