Florida State Road 44 is a cross-peninsular route with two main sections measuring 103 miles in total length east from in Crystal River to the Atlantic Ocean in New Smyrna Beach. The western portion links Citrus County with Wildwood and Leesburg in Sumter County. The eastern segment joins the Eustis and Mt. Dora area with DeLand and New Smyrna Beach.
Florida State Road 44 Guides
East
Following Gulf to Lake Highway, the state road travels 16.8 miles east from U.S. 19/98 in Crystal River to U.S. 41 in Iverness along a varying five-lane commercial arterial or four lane divided highway. Through Downtown Inverness, SR 44 overlaps with U.S. 41 for one mile along Main Street.
Splitting with U.S. 41, SR 44 continues east along Henderson Lake with four overall lanes to the Withlacoochee River into Sumter County. A commercialized diamond interchange joins SR 44 with I-75, 15 miles east of Inverness and just north of Florida's Turnpike.
SR 44 parallels Florida's Turnpike east through Wildwood to Lake Okahumpka and southern areas of The Villages. Entering Lake County, approaches the county seat of Leesburg along Main Street before shifting south along an arterial bypass (South Street) to U.S. 27 (14th Street). Dixie Avenue extends the route 2.2 miles east to U.S. 441 (North Boulevard), where SR 44 ends.
Lake County Road 44 arcs north from U.S. 441 in east Leesburg around the north side of Lake Eustis to SR 19. The county road stems 3.2 miles east from SR 19 in Downtown Eustis along Orange Avenue. State Road 44 overtook CR 44B north from U.S. 441 at Mt. Dora between Loch Leven and Lake Joanna to connect with the resumption of SR 44 east from Orange Avenue. A $26.5 million project will four lane the 2.092 mile long section of SR 44 north from U.S. 441 to Orange Avenue (CR 44).
Leading away from Eustis and Mount Dora, SR 44 bee lines 6.1 miles east from Orange Avenue to County Road 46A. CR 46A links the state road with SR 46 and Wekiva Parkway (SR 429) east to Sanford while SR 44 turns northeast along a rural course 14.7 miles to the St. Johns River.
Construction started in Summer 2020 replaces the Whitehair Bridge with a new fixed high level span, and rebuilds the two lane bridge approaches south of the original alignment. Additional work includes access changes to Ed Stone Park, Old New York Avenue and Pier 44 Marina. The $44.8 million project runs through late 2023.
A short distance into Volusia County, SR 44 enters the county seat of DeLand, taking New York Avenue to Downtown. New York Avenue leads the route east by Lake Winnemissett to a mid 2000s realignment to Interstate 4. Eastward from there, SR 44 is a four lane, divided highway to I-95 and New Smyrna Beach.
Within New Smyrna Beach, SR 44 partitions with a Business route along Canal Street. SR 44 Business branches north from SR 44 (Lytle Avenue) to U.S. 1 (Dixie Freeway) at Downtown while SR 44 spans U.S. 1 east to Live Oak Street, where SR A1A takes over east across the South Causeway bridge spanning the Indian River North / Intracoastal Waterway. A separate branch of SR 44 runs 1.44 miles east along Causeway North from N Riverside Drive, north of Downtown New Smyrna Beach, to the North Causeway Drawbridge crossing Indian River North to Flagler Avenue.
 scenes |
 | Amelia Avenue (unsigned CR 4103) southbound at SR 44 (East New York Avenue) outside Downtown DeLand. 03/21/08 |
 | Andrews Street west to Live Oak Street north links S Riverside Drive (CR 4135) with SR 44 (Lytle Avenue) and SR A1A (S Causeway) in New Smyrna Beach. 09/08/18 |
 | Live Oak Street heads one block north from Andrews Street in New Smyrna Beach to intersect SR 44 west and SR A1A south where Lytle Avenue becomes S Causeway. 09/08/18 |
 | SR 44 heads 19.03 miles west from Live Oak Street in New Smyrna Beach to Interstate 4 just outside DeLand. 2.08 miles long, SR A1A spans the Indian River North across the Harris Saxon Bridge east onto E 3rd Avenue at Coronado Beach. 09/08/18 |
Photo Credits:
03/21/08, 09/08/18 by AARoads
Connect with:
Interstate 4
Interstate 75
Interstate 95
U.S. 1
U.S. 17
U.S. 19
U.S. 27
U.S. 98
U.S. 441
State Road 15A / Volusia County Road 15A - DeLand
State Road 415 / County Road 415
State Road 589 - Veterans Expwy / Suncoast Pkwy
Page Updated 10-17-2022.