| State: | FL | ||||||||||||
| Marker Image: |
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| Type: | SR | ||||||||||||
| Route: | 679 & State Road 682 | ||||||||||||
| Map Custom: | yes | ||||||||||||
| Map Notes: | SR 679 highlighted in red and SR 682 in blue | ||||||||||||
| Section1: | State Road 679 | ||||||||||||
| Length Mi1: | 4.816 | ||||||||||||
| Direction A1: | South | ||||||||||||
| Terminus A1: | Fort De Soto Park | ||||||||||||
| Direction B1: | North | ||||||||||||
| Terminus B1: | in St. Petersburg | ||||||||||||
| Section2: | State Road 682 | ||||||||||||
| Length Mi2: | 3.721 | ||||||||||||
| Direction A2: | West | ||||||||||||
| Terminus A2: | in St. Pete Beach | ||||||||||||
| Direction B2: | East | ||||||||||||
| Terminus B2: | in St. Petersburg | ||||||||||||
| Previous Type: | SR | ||||||||||||
| Previous Route: | 678 | ||||||||||||
| Next Type: | SR | ||||||||||||
| Next Route: | 681 |
The Pinellas Bayway System is a series of bridges on two state roads in Pinellas County, Florida. It is a toll road complex maintained and operated by the Florida Department of Transportation. It also is compatible with the SunPass ETC system currently in use on all other FDOT-owned toll roads. The Pinellas Bayway consists of:
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. https://web.archive.org/web/20060221024518/http://inventionandtechnology.com/xml/2004/4/it_2004_4_dept_notes.xmlAs of 2006, studies were being conducted by FDOT as to how the bridges would be replaced and how much they would cost.[1] The low-level causeway and 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-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.
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, E-PASS, and E-ZPass.[2]
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.
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 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.[3]