52-648: University Parkway may refer to: Roads [ edit ] County Road 610 (Florida) , known as University Parkway in Manatee and Sarasota counties Georgia State Route 316 , known as University Parkway University Parkway (Evansville) , Indiana University Parkway (Baltimore) , Maryland University Parkway (Winston-Salem) , Massachusetts Utah State Route 265 , known as University Parkway Other [ edit ] University District, San Bernardino , often referred to as University Parkway Topics referred to by
104-593: A few. Seminole Gulf has also operated general excursion trains in the past. Seminole Gulf first introduced passenger excursion trains and dinner trains in 1991 after losing a major freight customer. The first excursion train ran on January 5, 1991, which initially operated from a small platform in North Naples near Railhead Park. In 1993, excursion trains began operating from the current station near Colonial Boulevard in Fort Myers and ran between there and
156-406: A five-course dinner and has featured over 80 different murder mystery productions throughout its history. Special holiday dinner trains also operate including Sweetheart Express on Valentine's Day, Halloween Ghost Train , New Year's Eve Gala , and Christmas Rail-Boat (which runs to the historic Punta Gorda Atlantic Coast Line Depot for a Christmas boat tour through Punta Gorda Isles) to name
208-547: A line that extended from Durant (just east of Tampa), to Sarasota via Parrish , Palmetto and Bradenton. Some of the line was built on the former road bed of the Arcadia, Gulf Coast and Lakeland Railroad , an earlier unsuccessful railroad between Bradenton and Sarasota. In Sarasota, the tracks originally continued south into downtown along Lemon Avenue and served a dock facility in Sarasota Bay. In 1905, Seaboard extended
260-587: A mile along Alico Road . From the Baker Spur, the main line then heads south through Estero and Downtown Bonita Springs before terminating at a Cemex facility at the end of Wiggins Pass Road in North Naples , just a mile south of the Lee / Collier County line. The main line south of Alico Road has not had any active shippers and has been inactive since around 2008. As of early 2024, Seminole Gulf
312-726: A spur was built to Payne Terminal at Hog Creek (this spur and its wye today form the connection track between the east and west track). From Sarasota, the ACL track turned east and ran directly beside the SAL track through Fruitville. From 1924 to 1949, the ACL track continued from Fruitville southeast as far as Fort Ogden (along the Peace River ), where it merged with the Coast Line's route to Fort Myers (which is, coincidentally, Seminole Gulf's Fort Myers Division). Spurs connected both lines to
364-669: A steel swing span built by the American Bridge Company to accommodate river traffic. Service up to the Caloosahatchee River commenced in 1903. The first train reached Fort Myers on May 10, 1904 after the completion of the trestles over the river. In Fort Myers, the ACL built a depot downtown at Main and Monroe Streets and a wharf along the Caloosahatchee River at the end of Monroe Street. The original depot would be replaced with
416-421: A top priority for ACL president Henry Walters . Construction commenced promptly on the extension to Fort Myers via Tice , which made it the ACL's first expansion of the former Plant System. The alignment through Tice was selected so the line would cross the wide Caloosahatchee River farther upstream at Beautiful Island, where a series of shorter trestles could be built. The northernmost trestle originally had
468-632: A week, year-round from a station at Colonial Boulevard north to a point just south of Punta Gorda before returning. The dinner train is often headed by a vintage EMD F-unit locomotive , SGLR 502, which previously operated on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road . The train uses a fleet of 1930s-era vintage rail cars named after nearby barrier islands (some of which were previously Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus rail cars). The dinner train includes
520-559: Is a short line freight and passenger excursion railroad headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida , that operates two former CSX Transportation railroad lines in Southwest Florida . The company's Fort Myers Division, which was previously the southernmost segment of CSX's Fort Myers Subdivision, runs from Arcadia south to North Naples via Punta Gorda , Fort Myers , Estero , and Bonita Springs . The company's other line,
572-486: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages County Road 610 (Florida) County Road 610 ( CR 610 ), locally known as University Parkway , is a seven-mile-long (11 km) county route in Sarasota County and Manatee County, Florida . It is a major commuter route from U.S. Highway 41 (US 41) to Interstate 75 (I-75) and it
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#1732790305996624-615: Is located south of Hanson Street under the Metro Parkway overpass, and a maintenance yard is just south of Colonial Boulevard next to Page Field . From the yards, the main line continues south along the Ten Mile Canal (the John Yarbrough Linear Park parallels the line along the canal). The line has a short spur just north San Carlos Park known as the Baker Spur, which extends west a little over
676-557: Is one of two freight railroads operating in Southwest Florida (the other is South Central Florida Express , which operates tracks farther inland near Clewiston). Freight transported by Seminole Gulf Railway includes lumber , propane , stone, steel, scrap metal, and other commodities. Freight is interchanged with CSX usually once or twice a week on each line. On the Fort Myers Division, freight trains between
728-734: Is planning to sell this segment of the line to be converted to the Bonita Estero Rail Trail. What is now Seminole Gulf Railway's main line came into existence incrementally in the late 1800s and early 20th century. The northernmost section of the Seminole Gulf track along with the Arcadia yard and the CSX line to the north was originally built by the Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway. Built from 1907 to 1910,
780-525: Is the primary access road for Sarasota–Bradenton International Airport . University Parkway from US 301 west to US 41 is fully within and maintained by Sarasota County. East of US 301, the route runs along the Sarasota - Manatee county line. While the route along this segment is predominately in Manatee County, Sarasota and Manatee counties have a unique interlocal agreement with
832-429: The Caloosahatchee River between there and Tice . The crossing over the Caloosahatchee River includes a drawbridge and series of trestles that traverse Beautiful Island. From Tice on the south side of the river, the line turns southwest and runs parallel the river towards Downtown Fort Myers. Just east of downtown, the line turns south and enters Fort Myers yard limits. Seminole Gulf's main switching yard in Fort Myers
884-575: The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art . From US 41, University Parkway is a four-lane road and it passes to the south of Sarasota–Bradenton International Airport . Shortly after passing the main entrance to the airport, it turns northeast and crosses the Seminole Gulf Railway before turning back east. It then expands to six lanes and comes to an intersection with US 301 . East of US 301, University Parkway runs east along
936-558: The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus to their Venice headquarters up until 1990, when the circus relocated their headquarters to Tampa. The circus relocated to Tampa mainly due to the fact that the Venice segment of the rail line could no longer support their rail equipment due to the rough condition of the track. As previously mentioned, the line was abandoned from Venice to Palmer Ranch in 2004 due to decreased demand and
988-744: The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus 's Sarasota headquarters near Fruitville (which existed from 1927 to 1959, when the headquarters were relocated to the end of the line in Venice). In 1967, the Seaboard Air Line and the Atlantic Coast Line merged to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (who later merged with the Chessie System in the 1980s to form CSX). The mergers brought all of
1040-493: The Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) was building a competing line from Fort Ogden to Fort Myers and Naples via their Seaboard-All Florida Railway subsidiary. SAL's service to Naples commenced eleven days after the ACL, though SAL discontinued service to Naples by 1942. By 1944, the Atlantic Coast Line abandoned the line to Marco Island, and extended the remaining track from near Vanderbilt Beach down
1092-433: The Baker Spur in 1994. Intercity passenger service to Southwest Florida was discontinued in 1971 upon the creation of Amtrak , who opted not to serve Southwest Florida. In 1975, Seaboard Coast Line sold the Fort Myers passenger depot to the city of Fort Myers. In 1977, the swing bridge over the Caloosahatchee River was replaced by the current bascule bridge . In early 1980, tracks into downtown Naples were removed and
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#17327903059961144-493: The CSX interchange. Three of the four trestles across the Caloosahatchee River near Tice were also destroyed. Due to the damage, Seminole Gulf had to divert freight to the Sarasota Division and transload it to trucks to serve customers on the Fort Myers Division. The Peace River trestles were repaired by February 2023 restoring service as far as North Fort Myers. Reconstruction of the Caloosahatchee River trestles
1196-587: The Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway (which would later be acquired by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad in 1926) historically extended from Arcadia south to Boca Grande . The line from the Arcadia yard southeast along Pine Street was the Charlotte Harbor and Northern's connecting track to the Florida Southern Railway . From this point, Seminole Gulf continues south along the former Florida Southern Railway (a subsidiary of Henry Plant 's system of railroads) south to Punta Gorda. This segment
1248-594: The Peace River, passing Morgan Park, and turns southwest into the Arcadia yard. CSX has trackage rights into Arcadia yard to facilitate the interchange between the two companies. From the yard, the main line continues from a wye southeast a short distance before turning southwest near downtown Arcadia. From here, it roughly parallels the Peace River through Fort Ogden and Cleveland to Punta Gorda. In Punta Gorda, it turns south and then southeast closely paralleling Interstate 75 towards North Fort Myers before crossing
1300-554: The Sarasota Division, runs from Oneco south through Sarasota . Seminole Gulf acquired the lines in November 1987 and operates its own equipment. The company's first train departed Fort Myers on November 14, 1987. The Seminole Gulf Railway has a commonly owned affiliated company, the Bay Colony Railroad Corp. ( reporting mark BCLR ), which is based in southeastern Massachusetts . Seminole Gulf Railway
1352-737: The Sarasota–Manatee county line. It immediately crosses another branch of the Seminole Gulf Railway and intersects with Lockwood Ridge Road. It passes a number of residential areas and intersects Honore Avenue before coming to an intersection with Cattlemen Road. At Cattlemen Road, it passes the Mall at University Town Center and its surrounding commercial areas before coming to a diverging diamond interchange with I-75 . CR 610 officially terminates at I-75, though University Parkway continues east another six miles (9.7 km) through Lakewood Ranch . The route that would become University Parkway
1404-627: The city and terminated at a dock facility in the Peace River near Charlotte Harbor. This dock, known as the Long Dock, was located near the Punta Gorda Isles Yacht Club (a mile west of where Fishermen's Village stands today). A passenger depot was also located near King Street (the historic depot on Taylor Street was built later in 1928). Punta Gorda became the southernmost point the Plant System ever reached, and
1456-402: The depot that still stands today on Peck Street (now Widman Way) in 1924, and the wharf would only exist until 1944. The spur that runs from the line just south of State Road 82 is all that remains of the wye and tracks that once served the downtown Fort Myers depot and docks. Fort Myers also experienced major growth after the arrival of the railroad and would remain the southernmost point of
1508-482: The entire Atlantic Coast Line Railroad system until the Florida land boom of the 1920s . Once the land boom was underway, the ACL partnered with a number of local businessmen including advertising entrepreneur Barron Collier , who owned large amounts of land in the newly created Collier County. Through this partnership, they acquired the dormant charter of the unbuilt Fort Myers Southern Railroad and used it to extend
1560-409: The ex-SAL right of way to the SAL's former passenger depot on Fifth Avenue South. The Atlantic Coast Line relocated its freight yard from downtown Fort Myers to its current location south of Hanson Street in 1960. The Atlantic Coast Line became the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL) in 1967 after merging with the Seaboard Air Line, its former rival. The Baker Spur just north of San Carlos Park
1612-485: The line continue south to Fort Myers. This is despite the fact that Plant opened a hotel in Fort Myers in 1896. Fort Myers was seeking railroad service at the time and had already been established as a city unlike Punta Gorda. After Plant's death in 1899, his heirs would sell his entire system of railroads to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) in 1902, and serving Fort Myers quickly became
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1664-681: The line east into Fruitville , which initially ran southeast along Pineapple Avenue and then east along what is now Alderman Street and Brother Geenen Way. In 1911, at the request of local socialite Bertha Honoré Palmer , the line was extended south to Venice . The Atlantic Coast Line (ACL) came to the area later in 1924 as part of the Florida land boom when they built the Tampa Southern Railroad (the east track). The ACL's passenger depot existed at Main Street and School Avenue and
1716-466: The line from Fort Myers further south into Collier County. The line reached Bonita Springs by late 1925 where a depot was built just south of the Imperial River (the depot has since been demolished but the depot's platform and siding still remain near Riverside Park). The line was further extended to Naples by December 1926, and to Collier City on Marco Island in mid 1927. At the same time,
1768-484: The line heads due south along former Seaboard Air Line Railroad tracks towards Sarasota, passing through Tallevast and close to Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport . The line's locomotives are stored on a spur into Suburban Propane on Whitfield Avenue in Tallevast. Just north of Downtown Sarasota, the line turns east onto former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad tracks and comes to a wye just east of US 301 . From
1820-502: The line was cut back to its current terminus in North Naples. The area around the line's new terminus in North Naples was subsequently developed into the Rail Head Industrial Park. Seminole Gulf began operating the line seven years later. In the mid-2000s, a short stretch of the line between Edison Avenue and State Road 82 in Fort Myers was realigned and upgraded with continuous welded rail. The northern leg of
1872-448: The newly-developed Lakewood Ranch by the time the first phase of that community was complete in 1995. In 2017, University Parkway's interchange with I-75 was converted to a diverging diamond interchange . It was the first diverging diamond interchange in the state of Florida and it is one of the largest diverging diamond interchanges in the country. Seminole Gulf Railway The Seminole Gulf Railway ( reporting mark SGLR )
1924-832: The platform at Old Depot Park in Bonita Springs, though dinner trains only operated from Fort Myers. By the late 1990s, excursion trains discontinued operation south of Fort Myers and instead ran north of Fort Myers until their discontinuation (which left the Murder Mystery Dinner Train as Seminole Gulf's only passenger service). Seminole Gulf's Fort Myers Division, which extends nearly 80 miles, begins in Arcadia and runs south to Punta Gorda , Fort Myers , Bonita Springs , and North Naples . The Fort Myers Division begins just north of Arcadia, where it continues south from CSX's Brewster Subdivision (at milepost SVC 880.75). From this point, it runs south across
1976-560: The railroad's arrival is largely responsible for Punta Gorda's development as a city, which was incorporated four years later. Today, the spur near Elizabeth Street in Punta Gorda is all that remains of the original alignment to the Punta Gorda docks (the Punta Gorda Linear Park today runs along the rest of that route west of US 41 ). Charlotte Harbor was Henry Plant's ultimate goal and he had no interest in having
2028-404: The road in regards to maintenance due to its proximity to the county line. Manatee County is responsible for maintenance of the physical roadway on this segment, while Sarasota County is responsible for maintaining traffic signals and landscaping along the corridor. University Parkway begins at an intersection with US 41 ( Tamiami Trail ) on the north side of Sarasota directly across from
2080-466: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title University Parkway . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=University_Parkway&oldid=1238010333 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Road disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
2132-449: The track under a single owner and led to consolidation of the two routes and abandonment of redundant trackage. This included the SAL's original route through downtown Sarasota (which was removed in 1968), the ACL's tracks between Bradenton and Matoaka, and the consolidation of the east–west parallel track through Fruitville to a single track (using the former SAL track). After taking over the line in 1987, Seminole Gulf continued to carry
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2184-402: The wye to Downtown Fort Myers was also severed at this time. This was done to accommodate the expansion of Evans Avenue . On September 28, 2022, the Fort Myers Division received significant damage from the landfall of Hurricane Ian . At the north end of the line, Arcadia Yard was flooded and the three trestles across the Peace River in Arcadia were partially destroyed, severing the line from
2236-464: The wye, the line turns back north along the former Atlantic Coast Line main line and terminates just south of Whitfield Avenue in Motoaka. The line went as far south as Venice when Seminole Gulf first began operating it. Track to Venice previously ran from the wye at the southeast corner of the current line and went south-southeast through Fruitville , Bee Ridge , Palmer Ranch and Nokomis . Track
2288-468: The yard in Fort Myers and Arcadia are known as the Desoto Turn. The Desoto Turn switches customers between North Fort Myers and Arcadia while industries in Fort Myers and south of there are switched locally from the yard. In addition to carrying freight, Seminole Gulf Railway also operates a popular Murder Mystery Dinner Train from Fort Myers. Under normal operation, the dinner train runs five nights
2340-483: Was abandoned south of Palmer Ranch in 2004 and the remaining line up to Fruitville Road was abandoned in 2019. The Legacy Trail runs on the former right of way from Fruitville Road to Venice. The first trackage of the Sarasota Division to be built (the west track) was built by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) through their Florida West Shore Railway subsidiary in 1903. It was part of
2392-428: Was also widened to four lanes, which then became part of University Parkway linking it to US 41 and Sarasota–Bradenton International Airport . The road between US 301 and Desoto Road was built on the route of a former railroad spur that once linked the two railroad lines in the area (part of the spur is still in place near US 301). University Parkway was also extended west from I-75 to provide access to
2444-600: Was built in 1886 making it the oldest segment of the Seminole Gulf line and was the southernmost segment of the Florida Southern's Charlotte Harbor Division, which originated in Bartow . The original Florida Southern route north of Arcadia (which ran past the historic Arcadia passenger depot) was removed in 1984. Surveying work to determine the route for the Florida Southern Railway to Punta Gorda
2496-519: Was complete in February 2024. In Sarasota, Seminole Gulf largely operates on a u-shaped line. The northwest end of the line is located just south of Bradenton in Oneco , where it continues south from CSX's Palmetto Subdivision . The interchange point is located a little over a mile south of CSX's Tropicana Yard, where a side track facilitates the interchange between the two companies. From Oneco,
2548-429: Was designated as SR 610. University Parkway was heavily expanded in the early 1990s. At this time, it was widened to a multi-lane divided road from US 301 to I-75. The widening was jointly funded by both Sarasota and Manatee counties. Around the same time, University Parkway was extended west as a four-lane road from US 301 southwest to Desoto Road ( CR 778 ). Desoto Road from there west to US 41
2600-399: Was done by Punta Gorda civil engineer Albert W. Gilchrist , who would later serve as Florida's 20th governor. The line's first train to Punta Gorda arrived on July 24, 1886. The line, originally built as narrow gauge, was widened to standard gauge in 1892, and the Florida Southern was fully integrated with the Plant System in 1896. In Punta Gorda, the line initially continued west through
2652-408: Was originally a rural road from US 301 east. At the time, US 301 turned west at University Parkway and continued north to Bradenton along present-day 15th Street (301 Boulevard). US 301 north of University Parkway would not be moved to its current alignment until 1985. University Parkway was extended east to connect with I-75 by the time the freeway opened through the area in 1981. It
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#17327903059962704-560: Was then built in 1973. The Baker Spur would extend beyond the route of Interstate 75 to serve rock mines in eastern Lee County on land owned by the Atlantic Land and Improvement Company (known today as Alico, Inc. ), which at one point had been a subsidiary of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and was the holding company for its real estate division. Seminole Gulf abandoned the easternmost three miles of
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