By Jane Feehan
Officially designated a state road in
1945, A-1-A or Atlantic 1 Alternate extends from Fernandina Beach to Key West,
Florida. Numbering of the original roads included in this highway were replaced by the A-1-A
designation in 1946. The longest highway it replaced was
State Road 140.
Though not a continuous road, A-1-A runs parallel and close to much of state’s Atlantic seaboard, providing one of its most scenic vistas. A portion of it—from Ponte Vedra Beach to Flagler Beach—is among 15 roads in the contiguous 48 states designated by the federal government as a Scenic and Historic Coastal Byway. Florida can boast two such designations with the Big Bend Scenic Highway along the Gulf Coast as the other. State A-1-A includes some of the first paved road along Florida's east coast – Dixie Highway completed in 1915. ( A search on this blog will show a post on this topic)
The Florida Department of Transportation established the Florida Scenic Highways Program in 1996 to showcase its roads to “enhance the overall travel experience in Florida.” Currently, it lists 27 state-designated scenic highways, six of them federally National Scenic Byways and two—the A-1-A segment mentioned above and the Florida Keys Scenic Highway—designated All-American Roads.
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| A1A (Atlantic Boulevard) circa 1960 Florida State Archives |
Sources:
New York Times, Dec. 14, 1986
Orlando Sentinel, Feb. 20, 2000
Florida Department of Transportation
Scenic and Historic A1A
Florida Scenic Highways
Federal Highway Administration
Tags: Florida transportation, Florida tourism, Florida roads, Florida history
