Florida State Road 804

Route description

State Road 804's western terminus is in unincorporated Boynton Beach at the intersection of US 441–SR 7, just north of the eastern boundary of the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge and the historic northern boundary of The Everglades. West of US 441, Boynton Beach Boulevard continues westbound as 100th Street South for 0.5 mi without a state road designation through several farms before terminating at a dead end. State Road 804 then heads east away from US 441 through local farms, with newer developments east of Lyons Road. The speed limit here, and on almost all of Boynton Beach Boulevard outside of the incorporated city, is 45 mph. Two miles east of the western terminus, SR 804 has an interchange with Florida's Turnpike. East of the turnpike, Boynton Beach Boulevard enters into some residential areas, intersecting Jog Road, followed by Military Trail (formerly SR 809 and now CR 809), where soon afterwards, it has access to the Quail Ridge Country Club to the south. East of Knuth Road, Boynton Beach Boulevard enters incorporated Boynton Beach and becomes more commercial, with the Boynton Beach Mall a few blocks to the north, and SR 804 intersecting with Congress Avenue, which like Military Trail is a state-turned-county road. It continues east, now with a speed limit of 40 mph, heading for an interchange with Interstate 95 (I-95), entering downtown Boynton Beach east of the interchange, with the road ceasing to be a divided road east of NW 4th Street.

Now with a speed limit of 35 mph, the road next intersects Seacrest Boulevard, the baseline road that divides the city's east and west address, and continues east towards US 1. It crosses the Florida East Coast Railway tracks that carry the Brightline service, also passing the site of a proposed Tri-Rail station south of the boulevard. At the intersection with US 1, SR 804 leaves Boynton Beach Boulevard proper for US 1 (Federal Highway, and the hidden SR 5), where it continues south for two blocks. SR 804 then turns left (east) and follows Ocean Avenue in downtown Boynton Beach, along portions of the Ocean Avenue Historic District, with a speed limit of 30 mph. The road also has access to the revitalized Boynton Harbor Marina to the north before crossing a drawbridge over the Intracoastal Waterway to the eastern terminus at SR A1A (Ocean Boulevard), which is just outside the Boynton Beach city limits in Ocean Ridge, just south of Boynton Beach's Oceanfront Park and Boynton Beach's government offices.

History==<!--

(none of this is relevant for this article, likely relevant for the Boynton Beach article)In 1894 Major Nathan S. Boynton, a native of Michigan who distinguished himself in the Civil War, came to this area, at that time part of Dade County, and fell in love with the lush landscape and tropical climate. Boynton directed the construction of the Boynton Beach Hotel from 1895 to 1897. He and his workmen, recruited from Michigan, brought their families and settled in the new town of Boynton. Other settlers came, building the town, raising vegetables to supply their needs and those of the guests at the Boynton Beach Hotel and shipping pineapples, tomatoes and other cash crops north on Henry Flagler's new Florida East Coast Railroad. With the completion of the hotel and need to ferry travelers to and from the train station a shellrock road was constructed which led from the hotel to the East Coast Canal (future Intracoastal Waterway). There at the canal a wooden hand pull toll bridge was constructed. The road from the canal to the station was predominately dirt. With the town growing more roads were graded.--

The original designation of Boynton Beach Boulevard was State Road 195. The 1945 State Road renumbering changed that designation to the current State Road 804. The road originally began as Boynton West Road at State Road 7, about 1/2 mile south of the current western terminus, connecting the farms in that area to the town of Boynton Beach to the east. Boynton West Road headed east to Military Trail at the eastern end of a sugarcane field, where the road would follow Military Trail for 1/2 mile northbound, with the field to the west. The road would continue east, and then south to Boynton West Shellrock Road (now Old Boynton Road), where the road would head east to its original eastern terminus at Dixie Highway (now Federal Highway, US 1, and SR 5) and NW 2nd Avenue.

Major intersections

References

References

1. {{FDOT cite. (September 6, 2016)
2. "State Road 804".
3. (2010). "Municipalities of Palm Beach County, Florida". Palm Beach County, Florida.
4. Wikisource. (2007). "1945 Florida State Road renumbering". Wikisource.
5. (June 2, 2010). "Boynton Beach pushes to restore Ocean Avenue's identity". [[The Palm Beach Post]].