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U.S. 27

#HistoryTuesday - Tuesday September 01ST 2026

Imagine driving southward out of Avon Park into Sebring back in the early-1950s.

Before the western bypass was built (present-day U.S. 27) you would actually take Temporary U.S. 27 along what is now Florida State Road 17. Approaching downtown - It followed North Ridgewood Drive, went around our Circle, and then continued onto South Ridgewood Drive and then Lakeview Drive. It then moved off Lakeview and onto the alignment south of Sebring that we know today.

U.S. 27 was extended east and south from Tallahassee to Miami in 1948, and it merely used existing roadways to form the route. The east and south extension of U.S. 98 formed a concurrency with U.S. 27 in 1951. When both major routes flowed through downtown Sebring along Ridgewood and around our Circle - it was usually gridlock for much of a typical day. It brought the visitors to our downtown streets and businesses, but it was quite congested.

Meanwhile Florida was constructing an 11-mile two-lane western bypass out of downtown Avon Park (south from Main Street). That bypass - known as Florida State Road 25 - was completed in 1956, and U.S. 27 / U.S. 98 was moved onto it; thus, bypassing downtown Sebring completely.

As the new U.S. 27 / U.S. 98 corridor began growing into the 1960s and 1970s with gas stations, stores, restaurants, and motels - the need to widen it to four lanes was obvious. That was done, and the corridor kept growing. It was widened to the six lanes that we know today during the mid-to-late-2000s.

Longtime locals point to that 1956 realignment of U.S. 27 / U.S. 98 away from downtown Sebring as the start of the end of the boom era, as traffic - both vehicular and foot - gradually dwindled.

But anyone who has driven along Ridgewood and around our Circle today will see that we're in a new boom era downtown - even right through the middle of the summertime. And of course - the U.S. 27 / U.S. 98 corridor is quite busy as well. (Some would say "chaotic".) Many locals prefer taking backroads to get to their destinations to avoid the highway.

You think U.S. 27 / U.S. 98 is rough here ? Try U.S. 27 in Miami, and U.S. 98 in West Palm Beach !