US 98, US 98/301,

US 98 is numbered as an east-west highway, but is signed north-south up the body of Florida, until it can turn west along the panhandle. ALT US 27 splits from US 27 in Williston and makes a beeline toward the Gulf of Mexico, only to then spend most of its time with US 19/98. The above shields are in Chiefland, and the photo was taken in 1984 by Michael Summa.


In Clearwater, courtesy SPUI. This colored shield just doesn't seem that old to me (it could reasonably be under 20 years old).


Traffic heading toward Fort Meade would have passed this in 1974, even though they were really heading west at that point, because US 98 isn't done heading north up Florida. Photo courtesy Michael Summa.


In Dade City, where US 98 and US 301 split for a second - US 98 goes right, US 301 goes left, they rejoin to the north. In fact, officially there is neither a Business nor a Truck route, merely suggested routes for either. Courtesy J.P. Nasiatka, as is the next multiplex photo.


WHY ARE YOU YELLING AT ME?! "Wildwood" REPLACED "OCALA"!!!


Broadway Ave. NB in Bartow FL, at what is now the intersection of these highways' business routes, courtesy J.P. Nasiatka. Yes, the colored (and incorrect) shields are still up, at least until someone reads this.


S-490 WB in 1974, south of Homosassa Springs, courtesy Michael Summa. Florida has the best names for things, like Caloosahatchee.


ALT 27 NB at US 19/98, the same intersection already featured twice on the US 27 page (quite a lot there), and then US 19/98 NB in the same spot, both once more courtesy J.P. Nasiatka. FL 500 is the secret shadow route for US 27 ALT to the south, and FL 55 is the secret shadow route for US 19/98, but it's hard to call that a secret anymore.


First photo taken in 1984 by Michael Summa (he thinks in Levy County), and second photo courtesy Sean P. McCool (definitely in Levy County), both on former state secondary highways that have been decommissioned to county routes. While Michael doesn't know what route the first photo is on, Sean tells me the second is on CR 341 NB in Chiefland. They could conceivably be two generations of the same assembly, but I doubt that there would have been a replacement of good signs between 1984 and the end of the colored shield era.


Another definite Levy County photo, this time courtesy Costa Ioannidis. Again, no idea what road this photo is on, and again it could have been a replacement of the signs in Michael's photo but it's more likely these were three different intersections.


US 98 EB in Perry, ready to meet its multiplex, again courtesy Michael Summa (but silly me never dated it). Look at the old font on the construction sign.


Confusion WB at FL 267 in Newport, courtesy Costa Ioannidis. Is this a distance sign? FL 20 is a few more than 27 miles away via 267. Is this supposed to be signing FL 20 and US 27? Two miles down the road, FL 363 is the last cutoff to US 27 in Tallahassee before it enters Georgia, but the original S.R. 27 was way down in southeastern Florida (and even intersected US 27 for fun times).


Franklin CR 67, former FL 67, and probably former US 319, in Carrabelle (probably eastbound), courtesy Sean P. McCool. US 319 is the other shield that belongs here, but if FDOT ever finds this assembly, it will sooner tear down the colored US 98 shield than find a suitable US 319 shield. US 319 multiplexes with US 98 from about 10 miles to the northeast all the way southwest through Eastpoint, ending halfway along the bridge to Apalachicola. US 319 and US 98 are uselessly multiplexed for all that distance, and 319 ends at nothing remarkable, because until the 1950's, US 319 ended in Eastpoint and US 98 ended in Apalachicola, with only a ferry to connect them. Once the bridge was built, out of fairness, each route extended halfway, but then US 98 was extended to the end of this panhandle and all the way down the big one. Really, US 319 should just end where it first meets US 98, but that's up to Florida with approval from AASHTO.

Onto ALT US 27 alone and regular US 27
Onto US 301 alone

To I-75
Onto FL 60
Onto US 129
Onto US 319
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