Alligator Alley
Encyclopedia : A : AL : ALL : Alligator Alley
- For other uses, see Alligator Alley (disambiguation)}}}.
It was originally built as a two-lane freeway connecting the two coasts of Florida, and was later connected to Interstate 75 as an east-west continuation of the highway, which otherwise ran north and south. It is still a toll road, with automobile drivers paying $2.50 each to use the road. Before the completion of its re-engineering, Alligator Alley was signed as SR 84; the ends that were not redesignated I-75 still retain the SR 84 signage. The Interstate 75 signs on Alligator Alley were not erected until 1993, and the SR 84 designation was dropped in favor of I-75's usual hidden designation, SR 93.
Between 1986 and 1992 it was widened to four lanes, with many bridges designed to let water and wildlife pass underneath. This helped to reduce the environmental impact of the highway somewhat, especially upon the severely endangered Florida panther.
The name was given by the American Automobile Association during planning; they believed it would be a useless road, an "alley for alligators". However, since alligators often frequent the waterways beside the road, the nickname has a somewhat literal meaning.
References
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.