State Road 710 (SR 710) is a 57 mi northwest-southeast route connecting SR 70 near Okeechobee, three miles (5 km) from the northern tip of Lake Okeechobee in south central Florida, to Old Dixie Highway (CR 811) in Riviera Beach. Most of the route is also known as Bee-Line Highway and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, as it parallels the railroad tracks maintained by CSX Transportation (their Auburndale Subdivision) and used by Amtrak; and doesn't have a turn or curve in the 48 mi southeast of Sherman, except for a small bend northwest of North Palm Beach County General Aviation Airport. Near the middle of the highway, where Indiantown is located, the route is also known as Warfield Boulevard, named after S. Davies Warfield, the president of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad who originally built the adjacent railroad tracks.

Route description

The Bee-Line Highway traverses the woodlands and wetlands north and east of Lake Okeechobee, with an occasional farm near its northwestern end. It is a popular truck route that is used as an alternative to US 441/US 98/SR 700. Along the way, SR 710 passes through Indiantown (near the St. Lucie Canal and midway along the Bee Line stretch) and West Palm Beach.

History

The road was first built in 1924 by New York businessman William "Fingy" Conners as a toll road to carry people to his properties at Okeechobee and Connersville. For a year in the 1940s, Bee Line Highway was part of State Road 66 before the number was changed to 710.

Future

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) conducted a Project Development and Environment (PD&E) Study to evaluate improvement alternatives for SR 710 from US 441 in Okeechobee County to CR 714 (SW Martin Highway) in Martin County. The PD&E Study received Location and Design Concept Acceptance on March 16, 2017, from the FDOT Office of Environmental Management. This allowed the project to move to the next stage of development.

Major intersections