View source for Flagler Street

{{short description|Main east-west road in Miami, Florida, United States}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2025}}
<!--should this article be moved to SR 968?-->
{{Infobox road
|state=FL
|type=SR
|route=968
|alternate_name=Flagler Street
|map={{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=290|type=line|zoom=10|from=Flagler Street.map}}
|map_custom=yes
|map_notes=SR 968 in red, other Flagler Street segments in blue
|maint=[[FDOT]]
|length_mi=8.699
|length_round=3
|length_ref=<ref name=sld/>
|length_notes=Flagler Street extends {{convert|12.4|mi}} total
|established=1983 (as SR 968)<!--1920 for the street?-->
|direction_a=West
|terminus_a={{Jct|state=FL|SR|973}} in [[Fontainebleau, Florida|Fontainebleau]]
|junction={{jct|state=FL|US|441}} in [[Miami, FL|Miami]]
|direction_b=East
|terminus_b=West 2nd Avenue in [[Miami]]
|counties=[[Miami-Dade County, Florida|Miami-Dade]]
|previous_type=SR
|previous_route=960
|next_type=SR
|next_route=969
}}
'''Flagler Street''' is a {{convert|12.4|mi|adj=on}} main east&ndash;west road in [[Miami]].  Flagler Street is the [[latitude|latitudinal]] [[baseline (surveying)|baseline]] that divides all the streets on the [[Miami-Dade County, Florida|Miami-Dade County]] [[grid plan]] as north or south streets (the east-west division is along [[Miami Avenue]]). Flagler Street is named after industrialist [[Henry Flagler]] and serves as a major commercial east&ndash;west highway through central Miami-Dade County, with a mixture of residential neighborhoods (featuring [[apartment building|apartment complexes]]) and [[strip malls]], the commercial presence increasing as SR 968 approaches downtown Miami.

Between [[State Road 973 (Florida)|SR 973]] ([[Galloway Road (Miami)|Galloway Road]]/West 87th Avenue) and West 2nd Avenue, Flagler Street is signed '''State Road 968''' ('''SR&nbsp;968''').

==Route description==
State Road 968 begins at [[Florida State Road 973|Galloway Road]] in [[Fontainebleau, Florida|Fontainebleau]], as it takes the six lane Flagler Street east through a mostly commercial area with residential housing dotting the street as it quickly approaches the [[Midway Crossings]] (formerly Mall of the Americas, formerly Midway Mall) to the north and the interchange with the [[Palmetto 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 with [[Florida State Road 969|Milam 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.  Following [[Red Road (Miami)|Red Road]] ([[Florida State Road 959|West 57th Avenue]]), it reaches Flagler Memorial Park to the north, as the road continues east through more businesses and [[apartment building|apartment complexes]].  The road then intersects with [[Florida State Road 953|LeJeune Road]] (West 42nd Avenue), which provides access to [[Miami International Airport]], with SR 968 continuing east towards central Miami.

[[Image:Flagler Street.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1|Flagler Street as it runs through the oldest part of [[Greater Downtown Miami|Downtown Miami]]]]
At the northwest corner of the intersection with [[Florida State Road 9|West 27th Avenue (SR 9)]] sits the Miami-Dade Auditorium [[concert 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 of [[Marlins Park]], as SR 968 enters [[Downtown Miami|Central]] [[Miami, Florida|Miami]].  From 12th Avenue West to the Miami River, Flagler Street features one eastbound lane with three westbound lanes, with the intersection with [[U.S. Route 441 (Florida)|US 441]]/[[Florida State Road 7|SR 7]] (West 7th Street) just four blocks west of the [[Miami River (Florida)|Miami River]] drawbridges.  Immediately after, it reaches [[Interstate 95 in Florida|I-95]], with access via nearby streets.  The rest of the road features government and business [[skyscrapers]] and [[Miami-Dade Transit|metro 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.  At [[Miami 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 at [[Biscayne Boulevard]] ([[U.S. Route 1 (Florida)|U.S. Route 1]]), with [[Bayfront Park]], featuring a scenic view of [[Biscayne Bay]] just east of the end of Flagler Street.<ref name="Flagler map eb">{{Cite map | title = Map of State Road 968 | year = 2009 |publisher=MapQuest, Inc.  | url = http://www.mapquest.com/mq/10-cv3emV5KlWCIGXarfB4F  | access-date =2010-06-26 }}</ref><ref name="Flagler map wb">{{Cite map | title = Map of State Road 968 | year = 2009 |publisher=MapQuest, Inc.  | url = http://www.mapquest.com/mq/7-NV5Lyq*fzN4r  | access-date =2010-06-26 }}</ref><ref name="dade map">{{cite map |publisher=[[Florida Department of Transportation]] |title=General Highway Map Miami-Dade County, Florida |url=http://www.dot.state.fl.us/surveyingandmapping/geomap/mida_c.pdf |year=April 2007 |access-date=2010-06-25 |archive-date=2011-06-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616123300/http://www.dot.state.fl.us/surveyingandmapping/geomap/mida_c.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Beyond SR 968's western terminus, West Flagler Street extends west to [[Florida State Road 985|State Road 985]] to end at an intersection with West 118th Avenue in [[Tamiami, Florida|Tamiami]], just west of the [[West Dade Expressway|Homestead Extension]].
{{-}}

==History==
[[File:1958 Biscayne and Flagler.png|thumb|upright=1|View westward at the intersection of Flagler Street and [[Biscayne Boulevard]] (US 1), 1958]]

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. <ref>{{cite web | url=https://pbase.com/donboyd/image/102805301 | title=1907 - the Dade County Courthouse on 12th Street (Later Flagler Street) in downtown Miami by Don Boyd }}</ref>

Formerly '''State Road 954''', Flagler Street received its current [[Florida 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 (now [[Florida State Road 922|State Road 922]]).

SR 968's original western terminus was at an intersection with [[Florida State Road 985|SR 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 ([[U.S. Route 1 in Florida|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 ([[U.S. Route 1 in Florida|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.<ref>[http://egov.ci.miami.fl.us/Legistarweb/Attachments/71551.pdf City of Miami Legislation Resolution. File Number: 13-00581]</ref>
{{-}}
==Major intersections==
{{jcttop|state=FL|county=Miami-Dade|length_ref=<ref name=sld>[http://www2.dot.state.fl.us/Straight-linesOnlineGIS/ FDOT straight line diagrams] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306153400/http://www2.dot.state.fl.us/Straight-linesOnlineGIS/ |date=March 6, 2014 }}, accessed March 2014</ref>}}
{{FLint
|location=Fontainebleau
|lspan=2
|mile=0.000
|road={{Jct|state=FL|SR|973|name1=West 87th Avenue / Galloway Road}}
|notes=Western terminus; Flagler Street continues westbound}}
{{FLint
|mile=0.99
|road={{Jct|state=FL|SR|826|name1=Palmetto Expressway}}
|notes=interchange
}}
{{FLint
|location=Miami
|lspan=9
|mile=1.498
|road={{Jct|state=FL|SR|969|dir1=north|name1=West 72nd Avenue / Milam Dairy Road}}
}}
{{FLint
|mile=3.018
|road={{Jct|state=FL|SR|959|name1=West 57th Avenue / [[Red Road (Miami)|Red Road]]}}
}}
{{FLint
|mile=4.551
|road={{Jct|state=FL|SR|953|name1=West 42nd Avenue / LeJeune Road}}
}}
{{FLint
|mile=6.089
|road={{Jct|state=FL|SR|9|name1=West 27th Avenue / Unity Boulevard}}
}}
{{FLint
|mile=7.640
|road={{Jct|state=FL|SR|933|name1=West 12th Avenue}}
}}
{{FLint
|mile=8.074
|road={{Jct|state=FL|US|441|name1=West 8th Avenue / [[SR 7 (FL)|SR 7]]}}
}}
{{jctbridge
|mile=8.51
|bridge=[[First Street Bridge (Miami)|First Street Bridge]] (eastbound) / [[Flagler Street Bridge]] (westbound) over [[Miami River (Florida)|Miami River]]
}}
{{FLint
|mile=8.64<!--8.633 calculated from 2nd, 8.638 from 8th-->
|road={{jct|state=FL|SR|925|to2=to|I|95|name1=Northwest 3rd Avenue}}
|notes=westbound access only
}}
{{FLint
|mile=8.699
|road=West 2nd Avenue
|notes=east end of state maintenance<!--for now-->
}}
{{jctbtm}}

==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
*[[Downtown Miami]]
*[[Brickell]]
*[[Brickell Avenue]]
*[[Miami Avenue]]
*[[Biscayne Boulevard]]
*[[Transportation in South Florida]]
{{div col end}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Flaglerstreet Miami 1945.jpg|Flagler Street on August 15, 1945, 20 minutes after the announcement of Japan's surrender at the end of World War II.
File:WalgreenDrugStoreMiami.jpg|La Época Department Store, a local Miami [[department store]] in the historic 1930s Walgreens Building at 200 E Flagler Street
File:Miami FL Downtown HD 101 East Flagler01.jpg|101 East Flagler Street
File:Flagler St Bridge from North River Drive - Miami, Florida (2016).jpg|The Flagler Street Bridge over the Miami River is a [[Drawbridge (American English)|drawbridge]].
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Attached KML}}
{{commonscategory|Flagler Street}}

{{Miami}}
{{Greater Miami}}

[[Category:Roads in Miami]]
[[Category:Roads in Miami-Dade County, Florida]]
[[Category:Shopping districts and streets in the United States]]