Notice the newly constructed Ulmerton Road eastbound overpass in the background.

Notice the dedicated right hand exit only lane which services Roosevelt Blvd.; the lane next to the right lane services through Interstate 275 southbound traffic as well as CR 296.

The southbound off ramp exits as two right lanes here.

You have a choice of Roosevelt Blvd. (FL 686) or 118 Av N (CR 296) here. Use Roosevelt Blvd. to reach the Carillon Office Park or CR 296 (118 Av N) to reach Seminole.

Unlike southbound Interstate 275 you cannot exit onto CR 296 from here. That's about to change.

Should you miss this exit you will be obligated to travel nine miles to the next exit, which is FL 60 (Exit 39) and the exit for Tampa International Airport in Tampa. Via the Howard Frankland Bridge, of course.

The exit is coming up in 1/2 mile; notice the dedicated exit only lane.

You can reach the Carillon Office Park as well as Largo and Clearwater (via the Bayside Bridge) from here. Again if you miss this exit plan on a nine mile trip to Tampa and Exit 39 to turn around as well as expected heavy traffic on the Howard Frankland Bridge!

You can head west on Roosevelt Blvd. to the Carillon Office Park as well as Largo and Clearwater (via the Bayside Bridge) or east on Roosevelt Blvd. to 4 St N and Gandy Blvd.

Use the far right lane for Roosevelt Blvd. or the lane next to the right lane for CR 296 and Roosevelt Blvd.

The exit is coming up in 1/2 mile; notice the dedicated exit only lane for Roosevelt Blvd.

Final opportunity to exit at CR 296 and Roosevelt Blvd.

From this exit you can reach the Carillon Office Park as well as Largo and Clearwater (via the Bayside Bridge) on Roosevelt Blvd. as well as Pinellas Park and Seminole by way of CR 296.  You can also go east on Roosevelt Blvd. to Martin Luther King St N as well as 4 St N and Gandy Blvd.  Be careful - missing this exit means a nine mile trip to Tampa over the Howard Frankland Bridge and making a legal turnaround at Exit 39, Kennedy Blvd. (and not to mention the heavy traffic!).

At Roosevelt Blvd. and CR 296 from northbound Interstate 275 you have a choice

You can head west on Roosevelt Blvd. to the Carillon Office Park as well as Largo and Clearwater (via the Bayside Bridge), west on CR 296 to Pinellas Park and Seminole or east on Roosevelt Blvd. to 4 St N and Gandy Blvd.

Be in the left lane for CR 296 or the right lane for Roosevelt Blvd.  Also use Roosevelt Blvd. if you are headed to the St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport.

Here is where CR 296 and Roosevelt Blvd. (FL 686) diverge.  CR 296 will cross Roosevelt Blvd. and link up with the ramp from southbound Interstate 275 to form the westbound lanes of CR 296.  Speaking of CR 296, it is the union of three roads in central Pinellas County:  118 Av N, Bryan Dairy Road and 102 Av N.  The connection to 102 Av N is made possible thanks to a bridge crossing Lake Seminole which was constructed in the 1990's, making an alternative to already crowded Park Blvd. or Ulmerton Rd.

First advance signage for CR 296 (118 Av N) and Roosevelt Blvd.

This is the same signage installed on the recent northbound Interstate 275 to westbound CR 296 project, only this time the Florida DOT applied the green-out treatment over the Bryan Dairy Road legend and replaced it with 118 Av N.  CR 296's designation as 118 Av N changes to Bryan Dairy Road at US 19.

Again this is the same new signage installed with the Florida DOT green-out treatment over the old Bryan Dairy Road legend with the 118 Av N designation.

Final opportunity to exit at CR 296 and Roosevelt Blvd.

Notice again the Florida DOT green-out treatment where the 118 Av N legend is shown.  From this exit you can reach the Carillon Office Park as well as Largo and Clearwater (via the Bayside Bridge) on Roosevelt Blvd. as well as Pinellas Park and Seminole by way of CR 296.  You can also go east on Roosevelt Blvd. to Martin Luther King St N as well as 4 St N and Gandy Blvd.  Be careful - missing this exit means a nine mile trip to Tampa over the Howard Frankland Bridge and making a legal turnaround at Exit 39, Kennedy Blvd. (and not to mention the heavy traffic!).

At Roosevelt Blvd. and CR 296 from northbound Interstate 275 you have a choice

You can head west on Roosevelt Blvd. to the Carillon Office Park as well as Largo and Clearwater (via the Bayside Bridge), west on CR 296 to Pinellas Park and Seminole or east on Roosevelt Blvd. to 4 St N and Gandy Blvd.  Again notice the Florida DOT green-out treatment applied to change the CR 296 designation from Bryan Dairy Road to 118 Av N.

Be in the left lane for CR 296 or the right lane for Roosevelt Blvd.  Also use Roosevelt Blvd. if you are headed to the St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport.  Notice the Florida DOT green-out treatment on the left side of the sign showing the correct designation of CR 296 as 118 Av N.

Here is where CR 296 and Roosevelt Blvd. (FL 686) diverge.  CR 296 will cross Roosevelt Blvd. and link up with the ramp from southbound Interstate 275 to form the westbound lanes of CR 296.  Speaking of CR 296, it is the union of three roads in central Pinellas County:  118 Av N, Bryan Dairy Road and 102 Av N.  The connection to 102 Av N is made possible thanks to a bridge crossing Lake Seminole which was constructed in the 1990's, making an alternative to already crowded Park Blvd. or Ulmerton Rd.  As I mentioned in the previous captions, notice on the left sign the green-out treatment applied by the Florida DOT as to CR 296's designation as 118 Av N.

Notice how the new ramp goes in a serpentine style, so much that you think you are going back south on Interstate 275.  However, that's not the case; as soon as you go over this overpass the road curves to the right and you merge onto CR 296.

Proceed straight ahead for northbound Interstate 275 to Tampa or bear to the right for southbound Interstate 275 to St. Petersburg.

The northbound Interstate 275 ramp from CR 296 squeezes into one lane so that it can accommodate the on ramp from Roosevelt Blvd. after the flyover bridge. There are plans to connect the right lane that ends here to eastbound Roosevelt Blvd but that's still on the drawing board.

On a clear day you can see the skyline of downtown Tampa from here.

This is a great panoramic view looking west as we cross Roosevelt Blvd.

The on ramp for Interstate 275 south from Roosevelt Blvd. is directly below the flyover.

CR 296 is also known as 118 Av N.

The exit for 118 Av N

CR 296 continues westward on 118 Av N at the traffic signal ahead. Future plans call for a connection to the Bayside Bridge via a new alignment to Ulmerton Road and continuing north on Roosevelt Blvd. The Sunshine Speedway (an auto racing track) was sold to the Florida DOT to make room for this new connection. This is why you used to see a stub ramp to the left.  The sign gantry was augmented with another sign to the left when the new ramp to CR 296 was opened.

Turn left to reach US 19 as well as Seminole, Largo and Clearwater as well as Bryan Dairy Road. Turn right to reach 28 St N; CR 296 ends just past the entrance to Home Shopping Network's campus (would you like to order a cubic zirconia?).

To head west on CR 296 on 118 Av N, simply proceed straight ahead.  However, if you are looking for 28 St N and the entrance to HSN's campus you will want to bear right onto 118 Av N like you did previously.

These two signs mounted on either side of the overpass lets you know that you are now on westbound CR 296, also known as westbound 118 Av N.  Here you are going over the eastbound lanes of 118 Av N as well as the entrance ramp to Interstate 275.

Here we cross over 34 St N, which in this area is a minor two lane road that connects CR 296 with Ulmerton Road.  In case you are wondering, US 19 loses its 34 St N designation at 62 Av N, which is the city limits of Pinellas Park, as US 19 begins its gradual trajectory to the northwest.

From here the ramp merges into one lane as it will become a left lane of a three lane westbound roadway.  Notice the stub ramps in place which are part of a future project to connect CR 296 with Ulmerton Road and the northern half of Roosevelt Blvd and ultimately the Bayside Bridge, providing one day for a seamless connection between Clearwater and Interstate 275.

From here onward you can reach 49 St N as well as US 19 and 66 St N.  At 66 St N you can reach Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School and Pinellas Park High School.  If you continue further west on CR 296 the road name changes to Bryan Dairy Road at US 19 and again to 102 Av N just before the Lake Seminole Bridge in Seminole.  CR 296 narrows into a four lane divided highway at the Lake Seminole Bridge and CR 296 narrows into a two lane highway west of 113 St N.  As CR 296 does not go to the Pinellas beaches, it ends unceremoniously in a residential development west of Oakhurst Road in Largo.

Here we see a new mast arm traffic signal installed at 34 St N as part of the new ramp project.  Look closely when you open the picture and you will see a yellow border encircling the traffic signal unit; new traffic signal installations have been receiving the new border to improve visibility.  In the background is the new westbound ramp to CR 296 from Interstate 275.

Here we see signage for the continuation of CR 296 leading to Interstate 275 by turning right at the next traffic signal, which is 31 St N.  Notice the part of the ramp pier where the pier cap is exposed; presumably it may be for another phase of the CR 296 project if and when it is connected to Ulmerton Rd (FL 688) and Roosevelt Blvd (FL 686); in this day and age of the present 2011 economy who knows?

Turn right at this traffic signal to continue east on CR 296 directly to Interstate 275.  I believe there was a more direct connection from eastbound CR 296 planned which would eliminate traffic having to make a sharp right turn at this intersection but I am not sure if that is part of another CR 296 related project.  If you are headed east to 28 St N, stay straight ahead.

This is looking eastbound on CR 296 as we get ready to cross 28 St N.  The Pinellas County Refuse to Energy Facility is to the right (not pictured).  Just before crossing 28 St N is a stub ramp which I believe is for a future CR 296 project as I mentioned in the previous caption.

The ramp from Roosevelt Blvd. forms the right lane while the ramp from CR 296 forms the left lane for the on ramp onto Interstate 275 northbound.

This is looking west on Roosevelt Blvd.

This is eastbound on Roosevelt Blvd.

Again this is looking west on Roosevelt Blvd. The signage should read Bradenton as we are already in St. Petersburg. Use the left lane to access southbound Interstate 275 after going under the third overpass. Perhaps the Florida DOT should consider installing a traffic signal at this entrance due to increased traffic.

Again this is eastbound on Roosevelt Blvd. Notice the dedicated exit lane to the right.  This sign was replaced with a newer overhead gantry further to the west in order to make room for the new ramp to westbound CR 296 from northbound Interstate 275.

Common to most merging traffic signs in Florida, this is located on the ramp to southbound Interstate 275 from Roosevelt Blvd. Beyond this sign are two yield signs flanking the ramp; traffic must yield to entering traffic from eastbound Roosevelt Blvd. In the background is the flyover ramp for CR 296.

As part of the new CR 296 ramp project a new overhead gantry was installed for eastbound Roosevelt Blvd. traffic approaching Interstate 275.  Notice the two right lanes for southbound Interstate 275 and signage for northbound Interstate 275 to Tampa.  The overpass just behind the gantry is that of the new CR 296 ramp.