State Road 33 begins in Lakeland off U.S. Route 92 (US 92) east of the intersection with US 98 and heads north along the vicinity of the west bank of Lake Parker. North of there it curves to the northeast and has one of two interchanges with Interstate 4 (I-4). The first interchange (Exit 33) provides westbound access via North Socrum Loop Road (CR 582), and eastbound access directly to SR 33. The route turns more to the east away from I-4, until it curves north at the northern terminus of Florida State Road 659. It has an encounter at the second interchange with I-4 (Exit 38) where it actually crosses under the interstate. The road continues northeast to Polk City where it curves back towards the north at a bridge over a former Seaboard Air Line Railroad line (now the Auburndale TECO Trail and General James A. Van Fleet State Trail) just at the northwestern coast of Lake Agnes. From there, it traverses through mostly rural farmland into Lake County and Groveland. In Groveland, it intersects and begins a 3 miles (4.8 km) concurrency with SR 50, up to Mascotte. Now a county road, CR 33 continues through another 10 miles (16 km) or so of rural farmland, passes over Florida's Turnpike, then has a brief overlap with Lake County Road 48 in Okahumpka, which terminates at the eastern terminus of CR 470, while CR 48 head to Howey-in-the-Hills. Lake CR 33 itself ends on US 27 just south of the bridge over Helena Run, a waterway between Lake Denham and Lake Harris.
History
The current Florida State Road 33 was established during the great renumbering of 1945, after the original SR 33 was replaced by Florida State Road 85 between Fort Walton Beach and Crestview in Okaloosa County. The route originally began at began at U.S. Route 92 (later U.S. Business Route 92, and currently unmarked State Road 600) in Lakeland, Florida and ended at Florida State Road 44 west of the merge with U.S. Route 441 in Leesburg, Florida. It was rerouted in Lakeland from Iowa Avenue one block west to Massachusetts Avenue in the 1970's, with a connecting road between East First Street and north of Bon Aire Street. Some Google Street View images still mistakenly show Iowa Avenue as being part of SR 33.[2][3] South of the current US 92, SR 33 became a city street within Lakeland, though some traces of Massachusetts Avenue's status as part of SR 33 can still be found in the city, mainly on railroad signal boxes at the crossing of the CSX Carters Subdivision.[4]
North of SR 50 in Mascotte, the road was downgraded to a county road.[when?] North of U.S. Route 27 in Okahumpka, the route was extended in a hidden overlap with US 27 and hidden SR 25 until it branched off at Dixie Avenue in Leesburg. The US 27/SRs 25-33 bridge over Lake Harris contained a roadside park, which was later converted into the Leesburg Fishing Area.[5][6] This segment was eliminated as part of the realignment of SR 44 in Leesburg during the mid-1980's, and the county portion has been truncated at US 27 in Okahumpka ever since.
State Road 33A served as a suffixed alternate route for SR 33 from Eaton Park, Florida to the northern reaches of Lakeland, Florida. It began at US 98 in Eaton Park, ran north through Crystal Lake and Combee Settlement at US 92, and finally terminated at SR 33 south of Interstate 4. It is mainly known as South Combee Road south of Polk County Road 542 and North Combee Road north of CR 542. At some point in the 1980's, the route was downgraded into County Road 33A. Today it is designated as Florida State Road 659, though the old route number still shows up in many street name signs and on Google maps.
