State Road 679, a hook-shaped north–south road with a four-lane divided northern half and a two-lane southern half serving Fort DeSoto Park at the tip of the "hook". Motorists traveling the entire length of SR 679 traverse two bridges.
The two State Roads intersect on Isla del Sol midway between St. Petersburg and St. Pete Beach. Until 2013, both highways had drawbridges in addition to low-level causeways in their configuration, and SR 679 retains this configuration. Attempts to replace the drawbridges with bridges of a different design in recent years met resistance from both nearby residents, yachtsmen, and the local chapter of the NAACP. As of 2006, studies were being conducted by FDOT as to how the bridges would be replaced and how much they would cost. The low-level causeway and bascule-typedrawbridge on SR 682 were replaced in 2013–2014 by a new high-level causeway without a movable span. Both Fort DeSoto Park and the Pinellas Bayway opened on December 21, 1962. The east–west portion was then signed SR A19A, a designation it kept until the mid-1980s, when FDOT did a statewide reallocation of state route numbers. Despite the redesignation, some local businesses and residents still refer toA19A when mentioning the Bayway. On October 14, 2000, the portion of SR 679 in Fort De Soto Park was transferred to Pinellas County.
Tolls
The Pinellas Bayway system employs cash and electronic toll collection. While casual users of the Bayway system may use their SunPass or other Florida-compatible electronic toll collection transponders, two discount programs for Bayway Isle and commuters are also authorized, in conjunction with SunPass usage. Bayway Isle residents may purchase a Bayway Isle annual pass for $15 annually, allowing them unlimited passage through the northeast toll plaza only. This discount was authorized at the time of the original construction of the facility. The pass is sold in June of each year and expires on July 1 the following year. Commuters and other frequent users have the option of purchasing an unlimited pass for $50 annually. This commuter pass, which is good at all three plazas on the Bayway system, is renewable each September, and was authorized by legislation in 1985. The prices include the rental of transponder for the term of the annual pass.
Withdrawn toll increase
On November 28, 2007, the Florida Department of Transportation held a public hearing and revealed that they planned to more than double the cash and Sunpass tolls on the Pinellas Bayway, and to eliminate the $15 Bayway resident pass. The funds from these increased tolls would be used to issue bonds for the eventual improvement of the bridges of the Bayway System. Local public officials spoke out loudly against what some perceive as an unfair allocation of costs to Pinellas Bayway residents. In February 2008, an ad hoc coalition of affected Homeowner Associations, the Citizens's Bayway Task Force, organized to fight the toll increase. The legislation to increase the tolls on the Pinellas Bayway was withdrawn on March 19, 2008.
