page_title: Florida State Road 44
section_title: Inverness to Leesburg
hierarchical_section_title: Florida State Road 44 / Route description / Inverness to Leesburg
caption_attribution_description: English: Eastbound Florida State Road 44 as it approaches Interstate 75 in Wildwood, Florida. The southbound off-ramp also leads motorists to Florida&#39;s Turnpike, which is just a mile away, and requires cutting across the southbound lane of I-75. This may change because FDOT and Florida's Turnpike Enterprise are planning to extend the service roads and add new ramps in order to prevent cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles from cutting in front of one another. As you can also see, this section of SR 44 is loaded with truck stops, tourist centers, hotels, and what not, because of the interchanges with I-75, and Florida's Turnpike.
context_page_description: State Road 44 is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of Florida. It runs from Crystal River on the Gulf of Mexico east to New Smyrna Beach on the Atlantic Ocean, passing through Inverness, Wildwood, Leesburg and DeLand.
  A section in Lake County, between eastern Leesburg and a point north of Mount Dora, is concurrent with U.S. Highway 441. This concurrency is not signed; signs on US 441 mark it as TO SR 44. The former alignment of SR 44 in that area is now mostly County Road 44, which runs north of Lake Eustis, on the other side as US 441 and current SR 44.
  A former western extension of SR 44 from Crystal River to the Gulf of Mexico is now County Road 44. In some locations, it is signed as County Road 44W.
context_section_description: East of US 41, SR 44 runs over the Withlacoochee State Trail with bike ramps on both sides, and then along the southern shore of Henderson Lake. The rest of the road is surrounded by farms, parkland, and boat launching areas, especially as it gets ready to cross the Withlacoochee River at the Citrus-Sumter County Line, where it enters Rutland. The rural landscape continues even at the northwest end of County Road 470, which leads to Lake Panasoffkee, Sumterville, and Okahumpka in Lake County.
  As the road enters Wildwood it is lined with truck stops, travel plazas, hotels, and other tourist attractions surrounding the interchange with Interstate 75 as well as Florida's Turnpike. The Florida Department of Transportation and Florida's Turnpike Enterprise are planning to combine the ramps to and from the turnpike into those of I-75. The road curves to the southeast again, as it approaches the western terminus of County Road 44A. After straightening out again, it approaches a four lane bridge over the CSX Wildwood Subdivision that was completed in 2010, just before the road intersects with US 301. East of US 301, the road takes another slight southeastern curve and later meets the eastern terminus of County Road 44A and then CR 468 in Orange Home, just before crossing the Lake County Line. A former railroad line running from Wildwood to Leesburg that ran along the south side of CR 44A runs along the north side of the road, when CR 44A ends
  Before reaching Downtown Leesburg, SR 44 makes a sharp right turn onto a truck bypass at the intersection of Main Street and County Road 468. The name of this section is South Street and it runs north and south, until it takes a sharp curve at Casteen Road, which it replaces. South Street continues to run in its easterly direction and approaches Venture Avenue, which was built on a former southwest-to-northeast railroad right-of-way, and Carpenter Avenue which runs along the east side of this former ROW. SR 44 approaches the intersection of US 27, and turns into West Dixie Avenue, where it runs northeast momentarily, and then turns east again. At the intersection of South Palmetto Street and west end of Dozier Circle, West Dixie Avenue turns into East Dixie Avenue. The road curves to the northeast again at Lake Port Boulevard and crosses the same abandoned railroad line that originated in Wildwood. Right after the intersection of East Main Street, SR 44 joins Southbound US 441, but both continue to run east.
caption: The many truck stops and travel plazas on SR 44 at Interstate 75 in Wildwood. Florida's Turnpike is nearby on the southbound on-ramp.
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