 State Road 968 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flagler Street | ||||
 SR 968 in red, other Flagler Street segments in blue | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byFDOT | ||||
| Length | 8.699 mi[1] (14.000 km) Flagler Street extends 12.4 miles (20.0 km) total | |||
| Existed | 1983 (as SR 968)–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |  SR 973 inFontainebleau | |||
| Major intersections |  US 441 inMiami | |||
| East end | West 2nd Avenue inMiami | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Florida | |||
| Counties | Miami-Dade | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
Flagler Street is a 12.4-mile (20.0 km) main east–west road inMiami. Flagler Street is thelatitudinalbaseline that divides all the streets on theMiami-Dade Countygrid plan as north or south streets (the east-west division is alongMiami Avenue). Flagler Street is named after industrialistHenry Flagler and serves as a major commercial east–west highway through central Miami-Dade County, with a mixture of residential neighborhoods (featuringapartment complexes) andstrip malls, the commercial presence increasing as SR 968 approaches downtown Miami.
BetweenSR 973 (Galloway Road/West 87th Avenue) and West 2nd Avenue, Flagler Street is signedState Road 968 (SR 968).
State Road 968 begins atGalloway Road inFontainebleau, as it takes the six lane Flagler Street east through a mostly commercial area with residential housing dotting the street as it quickly approaches theMidway Crossings (formerly Mall of the Americas, formerly Midway Mall) to the north and the interchange with thePalmetto Expressway at the eastern end of the mall. Seven blocks east of the interchange, the road enters the city of Miami proper after crossing the Tamiami Canal one block west of the intersection withMilam Dairy Road and becomes a four lane road from here until reaching I-95. At NW 67th Court, the divided highway comes together as a four lane road continuing east, with business lining both sides of the street. FollowingRed Road (West 57th Avenue), it reaches Flagler Memorial Park to the north, as the road continues east through more businesses andapartment complexes. The road then intersects withLeJeune Road (West 42nd Avenue), which provides access toMiami International Airport, with SR 968 continuing east towards central Miami.
At the northwest corner of the intersection withWest 27th Avenue (SR 9) sits the Miami-Dade Auditoriumconcert hall, as Flagler Street continues east for three more blocks, until at NW 24th Avenue, the road becomes a one way pair, with Flagler Street going westbound, and SW 1st Street going eastbound and both roads featuring commercial businesses and parks. The road then intersects West 17th Avenue just a few blocks south ofMarlins Park, as SR 968 entersCentralMiami. From 12th Avenue West to the Miami River, Flagler Street features one eastbound lane with three westbound lanes, with the intersection withUS 441/SR 7 (West 7th Street) just four blocks west of theMiami River drawbridges. Immediately after, it reachesI-95, with access via nearby streets. The rest of the road features government and businessskyscrapers andmetro rapid transit trackage towering over the road. At SW 2nd Avenue, SR 968 meets its eastern terminus, and Flagler Street (former SR 968) is once again a two-way street, with one lane in each direction. AtMiami Avenue, Flagler Street forms the center of Miami, as Miami Avenue represents the baseline for east and west. The road becomes East Flagler Street as it continues through central Miami, terminating atBiscayne Boulevard (U.S. Route 1), withBayfront Park, featuring a scenic view ofBiscayne Bay just east of the end of Flagler Street.[2][3][4]
Beyond SR 968's western terminus, West Flagler Street extends west toState Road 985 to end at an intersection with West 118th Avenue inTamiami, just west of theHomestead Extension.
Before the street was named Flagler Street, it was originally named 12th Street; it was renamed in 1920 after the establishment of the Challie Street Plan, a plan which renumbered Miami's streets to their current arrangement.[5]
FormerlyState Road 954, Flagler Street received its currentFlorida Department of Transportation designation in 1983, when FDOT reassigned route numbers to various streets in southeastern Florida and removed the SR 968 designation from North Miami Boulevard (nowState Road 922).
SR 968's original western terminus was at an intersection withSR 985 (Avenue of the Americas/West 107th Avenue). In 1987, FDOT truncated the westernmost two miles of the route to its current configuration. SR 968's original eastern terminus was at Biscayne Boulevard (US 1) in Miami, until FDOT turned over the section between US 1 and SW 2nd Avenue to the city of Miami.
As a condition for the relinquishment of Brickell Avenue (US 1) to the city of Miami, FDOT plans to adopt both SE 1st Street and NE 1st Street in downtown Miami as part of SR 968 and re-connect the route to Biscayne Boulevard.[6]
The entire route is inMiami-Dade County.
| Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fontainebleau | 0.000 | 0.000 | SR 973 (West 87th Avenue / Galloway Road) | Western terminus; Flagler Street continues westbound | |
| 0.99 | 1.59 |  SR 826 (Palmetto Expressway) | interchange | ||
| Miami | 1.498 | 2.411 |   SR 969 north (West 72nd Avenue / Milam Dairy Road) | ||
| 3.018 | 4.857 |  SR 959 (West 57th Avenue /Red Road) | |||
| 4.551 | 7.324 |  SR 953 (West 42nd Avenue / LeJeune Road) | |||
| 6.089 | 9.799 |  SR 9 (West 27th Avenue / Unity Boulevard) | |||
| 7.640 | 12.295 |  SR 933 (West 12th Avenue) | |||
| 8.074 | 12.994 | US 441 (West 8th Avenue /SR 7) | |||
| 8.51 | 13.70 | First Street Bridge (eastbound) /Flagler Street Bridge (westbound) overMiami River | |||
| 8.64 | 13.90 |    SR 925 (Northwest 3rd Avenue) toI-95 | westbound access only | ||
| 8.699 | 14.000 | West 2nd Avenue | east end of state maintenance | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
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