State Road 842, also known as Broward Boulevard, East Las Olas Boulevard, and Southeast 3 Avenue is an eight-mile-long major east–west thoroughfare

Thoroughfare

A thoroughfare is a place of transportation intended to connect one location to another. Highways, roads, and trails are examples of thoroughfares used by a variety of general traffic. On land a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a rough trail to multi-lane highway with grade separated...

 through Broward County, Florida

Broward County, Florida

-2000 Census:As of the census of 2000, there were 1,623,018 people, 654,445 households, and 411,645 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,346 people per square mile . There were 741,043 housing units at an average density of 615 per square mile...

. The western terminus of State Road 842 is an intersection with Flamingo Road in Plantation, Florida

Plantation, Florida

Plantation is the name of the following places in the U.S. state of Florida:*Plantation, Florida, a city in Broward County; the largest of the places named "Plantation" in Florida*Plantation, Sarasota County, Florida, a census-designated place...

; its eastern terminus is an intersection with State Road A1A

State Road A1A (Florida)

State Road A1A is a Florida State Road that runs mostly along the Atlantic Ocean, with sections from Key West at the southern tip of Florida, to Callahan, just south of Georgia. It is the main road through most oceanfront towns. SR A1A is designated the A1A Scenic and Historic Coastal Highway, a...

 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...

.

It serves as the main east–west access route to downtown Fort Lauderdale. In the downtown area, government buildings and banks line State Road 842 (the Broward County Transit

Broward County Transit

Broward County Transit is the public transit authority in Broward County, Florida. It is the second largest transit system in Florida. It currently operates the only public bus system in Broward County...

 central bus terminal is on the corner of SR 842 and Northwest First Avenue), just west of SR 842's zigzag

Zigzag

A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular....

 onto East Las Olas Boulevard

Las Olas Boulevard

Las Olas Boulevard is a popular thoroughfare in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States that runs from Andrews Avenue in the Central Business District to A1A and Fort Lauderdale Beach. The easternmost section of the boulevard is interlaced with canals and waterfront homes...

, a major shopping district. The State Road continues eastward past Fort Lauderdale Hospital, through an affluent neighborhood that gives the city the nickname The Venice of the Americas, before crossing the Intracoastal Waterway

Intracoastal Waterway

The Intracoastal Waterway is a 3,000-mile waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. Some lengths consist of natural inlets, salt-water rivers, bays, and sounds; others are artificial canals...

 and arriving at a beach that is popular with college students for spring break

Spring break

Spring break – also known as March break, Study week or Reading week in the United Kingdom and some parts of Canada – is a recess in early spring at universities and schools in the United States, Canada, mainland China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, the United...

. Within three blocks of State Road 842 are two public golf course

Golf course

A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...

s, the Museum of Discovery and Science

Museum of Discovery and Science

The Museum of Discovery and Science is a museum located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It is one of the largest museums of its kind in Florida, and has the most visitors of any museum in the state. The museum features its own AutoNation IMAX theater, and shows 3-D IMAX films in which viewers wear...

, the Broward Center for the Performing Arts

Broward Center for the Performing Arts

The Broward Center for the Performing Arts is a large multi-venue theater and entertainment complex located in the heart of downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA....

, campuses of Florida Atlantic University

Florida Atlantic University

Florida Atlantic University, also referred to as FAU or Florida Atlantic, is a public, coeducational, research university located in , United States. The university has six satellite campuses located in the Florida cities of Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie, and in Fort...

 and Broward Community College

Broward Community College

Broward College, previously known as "Broward Community College", is a state college in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S., and part of the Florida College System. It was established in 1959 as part of a move to broaden Florida's two-year community college system...

, and (directly under Las Olas Boulevard) the 864-foot-long New River Tunnel

New River Tunnel

The New River Tunnel, also known as the Henry E. Kinney Tunnel, is one of three underwater road tunnels in Florida , that replaced the Federal Aid Highway Bridge, a drawbridge opened on August 26, 1926 and closed in 1958. It carries U.S. Route 1 underneath the New River and Las Olas Boulevard in...

, through which U.S. Route 1 (SR 5

State Road 5 (Florida)

State Road 5 is a mostly-unsigned state highway in the state of Florida. It is mainly signed as U.S. Route 1 from its south end in Key West, Florida to Jacksonville, Florida, and U.S. Route 17 from Jacksonville to the Georgia state line at the Saint Marys River. U.S...

) passes under the waterway.

Until the mid 1980s, State Road 842 was exclusively on Broward Boulevard (its historic eastern terminus was an intersection with Federal Highway (US 1) two blocks from the northern entrance of the New River Tunnel), while Las Olas Boulevard was designated Alternate State Road A1A

Florida State Road A1A Alternate

Florida State Road A1A Alternate may refer to all or part of the following roads that had, at one time, this designation by the Florida Department of Transportation but have since been renumbered:*Florida State Road 605*Florida State Road 707*Florida State Road 732*Florida State Road 811*Florida...

.