SR 64 begins at Gulf Drive (City Road 789) in Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island and heads east along Manatee Avenue. Less than a mile after it begins, it crosses Anna Maria Sound via the Anna Maria Island Bridge on to Perico Island, which is within Bradenton city limits. About two miles later, it crosses the Palma Sola Causeway on to the mainland, where it becomes a four-land divided road. At 15th Avenue near Downtown Bradenton, SR 64 splits into two one-way street pairs with eastbound lanes shifting south one block on to 6th Avenue while westbound lanes remain on Manatee Avenue through Downtown Bradenton. Through Downtown Bradenton, SR 64 intersects US 41 Business (Tamiami Trail), crosses CSX's Palmetto Subdivision, and intersects US 41.
The eastbound and westbound lanes rejoin each other on Manatee Avenue just east of Downtown Bradenton at 14th Street near the Manatee Village Historical Park. SR 64 continues east from here as a six-lane divided road. It crosses the Braden River and exits Bradenton city limits before coming to an interchange with Interstate 75 (I-75). Continuing east of I-75, SR 64 reduces to four lanes at Lakewood Ranch Road. At Lorraine Road, it becomes a two-lane road as it becomes a more rural route. It passes Lake Manatee State Park and crosses Lake Manatee near Bethany. It then passes to the north of Wingate Creek State Park and through Myakka Head before entering Hardee County.[2]
Hardee and Highlands counties
Eastbound on Florida State Road 64 just east of the Hardee County line.
In Hardee County, SR 64 continues east and after nine miles, it passes the community of Ona. In Ona, it crosses CSX's Brewster Subdivision and intersects CR 663, which runs north to Fort Green and south to Limestone and Arcadia. Continuing east of Ona, it crosses the Peace River and enters Zolfo Springs. SR 64 intersects US 17 in Zolfo Springs. East of Zolfo Springs, SR 64 turns northeast and intersects with SR 636 seven miles later. It then continues east and enters Highlands County.
SR 64 from just east of Bradenton to Zolfo Springs was once the western segment of a cattle trail running from Bradenton to Fort Pierce, now known as the Florida Cracker Trail.[3] The road was added to the state highway system in the 1920s with various designations. The route was originally SR 18 from Palma Sola Bay to Bradenton, SR 63 from US 41 in Bradenton to a point east of Zolfo Springs (at present-day SR 636), and SR 32 east of there to Avon Park. It was also SR 161 concurrently from Bradenton to Waterbury Road (CR 675).[4][5]
In 1957, SR 64 was extended west from Bradenton west to Perico Island and Anna Maria Island over the newly-built Palma Sola Causeway and Anna Maria Island Bridge.[6] Perico Island was previously access via a road that ran from 9th Avenue North southwest along the present-day Spoonbill Trail.[7]
County Road 64 (CR 64) is the unsigned designation for 75th Street Northwest on the west side of Bradenton.[10] It runs from SR 684 (Cortez Road) north across SR 64 to the De Soto National Memorial northwest of Palma Sola. The route was previously a spur of SR 64.[11]
County Road 64 is a bi-county extension of SR 64 in Highlands and Polk Counties. It begins at SR 17 in Avon Park as East Main Street, which is part of SR 17 from the eastern terminus of SR 64. From there it runs straight west and east until the intersection with East Avon Pines Road, where it branches to the northeast, a position it maintains throughout the rest of the county. After crossing a bridge over Bonnet Creek, it crosses the Polk County Line[13] thus entering part of the Lake Wales Ridge State Forest, before curving east as it approaches a bridge over Arbuckle Creek, and terminating at the Avon Park Air Force Range.[14]
County Road 64A is an alternate county route of SR 64. It begins as a north-south road at the intersection with SR 64 in Oak Grove west of Zolfo Springs, and begins to curve to the northeast at the intersection of Alton Carlton Road, which leads to the Wauchula Municipal Airport. By the time it reaches the intersection of CR 35B, it runs directly west and east like its parent route and enters the City of Wauchula. Here, the road's only major intersection is CR 35A before it finally terminates at the intersection of US 17 and SR 636.[16]
