| State: | FL |
| Type: | SR |
| Route: | 581 |
| Alternate Name: | Bruce B. Downs Boulevard |
| Map Custom: | yes |
| Map Notes: | SR 581 in red, CR 581 in blue |
| Length Mi: | 3.505 |
| Length Round: | 3 |
| Length Notes: | CR 581: 12.554miles |
| Direction A: | South |
| Terminus A: | in Wesley Chapel |
| Direction B: | North |
| Terminus B: | in Wesley Chapel |
| Counties: | Pasco |
| Previous Type: | SR |
| Previous Route: | 580 |
| Next Type: | SR |
| Next Route: | 582 |
State Road 581 (SR 581), also known as Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, is a 3.5adj=midNaNadj=mid north - south road in Pasco and Hillsborough Countyextending from State Road 56, north to SR 54 in Wesley Chapel. SR 581, along with County Road 581 (CR 581), which extends 12.6miles to the south of SR 581's southern terminus, forms the major thoroughfare through New Tampa, a part of the city of Tampa annexed during the 1980s, to Wesley Chapel. The portion of the road north of State Road 582 was renamed in 1984 from 30th Street by Hillsborough's Board of County Commissioners in honor of Bruce Barkley Downs, a deputy county administrator for public works.[1]
State Road 581 begins at the intersection between the northern terminus of County Road 581 and State Road 56. State Road 581 takes Bruce B. Downs Boulevard northbound through a rapidly developing area, which is sparsely populated, ending at State Road 54.[2]
County Road 581 is a 12.6-mile long county road, extending from State Road 580 (Busch Boulevard) in Tampa to State Road 56 in Wesley Chapel, where it becomes State Road 581. The road begins at the intersection with State Road 580, at the southwest corner of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, where County Road 581 heads south as 30th Street, with residential areas to the west and Busch Gardens to the east. North of Bougainvillea Avenue, the road passes by a Yuengling brewing plant and a more commercial area, heading towards State Road 582 (Fowler Avenue), where the name changes to Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and forms the western boundary of the University of South Florida. Just north of the shopping centers, CR 581 passes through medical centers on both sides of the road, intersecting CR 582A (Fletcher Avenue), then leaving the medical area to residential areas, where the road starts to curve to the northeast, and enters a more sparsely populated area with newer developments. It then has an interchange with I-75, continuing to the northeast and crossing into Pasco County, where it terminates at State Road 54 in Wesley Chapel.[2] [3]