Florida State Road 739

State highway in Florida, United States
The northern portion of SR 739 through North Fort Myers was originally the route of Tamiami Trail (U. S. Route 41), a roadway connecting Tampa and Miami. The route through North Fort Myers north of Pine Island Road was complete in the 1920s along with the rest of Tamiami Trail. The route from there to Downtown Fort Myers was completed in 1931 when the original Edison Bridge over the Caloosahatchee River opened, which connected with Fowler Street on the south side of the river. Tamiami Trail's previous bridge was located further upstream connecting Old Bridge Road with Freemont Street. US 41 would carry the hidden designation SR 45 after the 1945 Florida State Road renumbering. In 1964, US 41 was rerouted to its current alignment to the west upon the completion of the Caloosahatchee Bridge. After the realignment of US 41, the original route became US 41 Business with the hidden designation of State Road 739. The Metro Parkway portion of SR 739 was originally developed as three roadways that were then planned to be part of an eastern bypass to US 41. The first segment was short local road known as Hardee Street that ran south from Hanson Street. In the early 1980s, Metro Drive was built as a four lane road from Colonial Boulevard (SR 884) north to connect with the south end of Hardee Street (Winkler Avenue was also extended to connect with Metro Drive at the time). From Colonial south to Daniels Road, the road was initially named Canal Road, which was named since it paralleled the Ten Mile Canal. Canal Road was a two lane road largely built due to a boom in need for new business sites, and landowners along the route financed its construction. In 1982, the road was complete from Hanson Street south to Daniels Road, which would be fully known as Metro Parkway within a few years. By the time Metro Parkway was complete, the SR 739 designation ran south along Fowler Street, then east along Hanson Street, and south along Metro Parkway. Metro Parkway was extended south to Six Mile Cypress Parkway by the end of 1987. This extension would support the construction of Gulf Coast Hospital (known today as Gulf Coast Medical Center), which opened in 1990. Metro Parkway was then widened to four lanes from Colonial Boulevard to Daniels Parkway in 1991. SR 739 was split into its current alignment of one way street pairs north of SR 82 in the early 1990s when the current dual Edison Bridge spans were completed, replacing the original drawbridge. SR 739 also became a six lane roadway between SR 82 and SR 78 at the same time. The North Fort Myers segment of SR 739 from SR 78 to Littleton Road was widened to four lanes in the late 2000s. The rest of the road north of there to US 41 was widened to four lanes in 2015. The owners of Gulf Coast Hospital loaned the state money for the widening, which allowed the project to start a few years earlier than planned. SR 739 was extended to its current southern terminus in late 2012 with the completion of Michael G. Rippe Parkway. That extension, which was named for former Florida Department of Transportation district director Michael G. Rippe, had been planned as early as the 1990s and was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The current alignment of SR 739 between Winkler Avenue and Hanson Street, which included the overpass over the Seminole Gulf Railway yard, was completed in late 2015. This removed SR 739 from Hanson Street, and the original alignment of Metro Parkway was renamed Old Metro Parkway.

From the north end of Metro Parkway, SR 739 southbound runs along Fowler Street in Fort Myers. South of Metro Parkway, Fowler Street continues under county control with the unsigned designation of County Road 863 (CR 863) to Colonial Boulevard and connects to US 41 at Boy Scout Drive near Page Field. Fowler Street was widened to four lanes in 1974. A year later, Page Field opened a new passenger terminal at the end of Fowler Street. This terminal ceased operation in 1983 when commercial air service was relocated to the new Southwest Florida Regional Airport. The terminal still stands and is now primarily occupied by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. In the mid 1990s, Fowler Street was realigned around Page Field's Runway 13 and extended to connect directly to US 41 at Boy Scout Drive, which continues a short distance to Summerlin Road (CR 869). Despite the realignment of Metro Parkway to connect with Fowler Street in 2015, Lee County still maintains Fowler Street between Metro Parkway and Hanson Street, though this section carries the SR 739 designation. Hanson Street was an early city street, and is named for Dr. William Hanson. Hanson's son, W. Stanley Hanson, served as tax collector and commissioner in Lee County.