State Road 30A is a Florida Department of Transportation designation shared by four alternate routings of SR 30 in the Florida panhandle. Two segments have SR 30A signage; the other two do not as they are segments of U.S. Route 98. Three of the four SR 30A segments are next to the shore of the Gulf of Mexico for most of their length.
Just west of Santa Rosa Beach, near East Hewlett Road, CR 30A branches off Reddick Road and heads southeastward toward the shore of the Gulf of Mexico. While US 98/SR 30 continues through the heart of Point Washington State Forest, CR 30A follows the shoreline, passing through Grayton Beach and Seaside, before rejoining SR 30 near Inlet Beach. While US 98/SR 30 spans the length of Point Washington State Forest, CR 30A doesn't avoid it completely: the westernmost mile forms the boundary between the state forest and Topsail Hill Preserve State Park, and along, the Gulf of Mexico, CR 30A cuts through approximately three miles of state forest between Blue Mountain Beach and Seaside... and another of Deer Lake State Park to the southeast of Seagrove Beach.
About to the east of the eastern terminus of the Point Washington State Forest segment of SR 30A, and west of Hollywood Beach, US 98 and SR 30 separate. While SR 30 continues along the shore of the Gulf of Mexico as Front Beach Road, US 98 continues roughly inland with the unsigned FDOT designation SR 30A. The Panama City Beach Segment ends from the western terminus, as traffic on US 98/SR 30A rejoins SR 30 on the approach to the Hathaway Bridge crossing St. Andrews Bay and entering Panama City.
State Road 392A
As the 16-mile-long SR 30 parallels the Gulf Coast, it passes through Hollywood Beach, Sunnyside, Laguna Beach, and Panama City Beach—popular "Spring Break" stops for U.S. college students—before curving back inland to rejoin US 98. The popularity of the Panama City Beach beachfront has often resulted in the overloading of Front Beach Road and the prompting of FDOT's "creation" of a second bypass of the downtown area: the three-mile long SR 392A. Unlike SR 30A, SR 392A is entirely within the city limits of Panama City Beach, no more than inland from the Gulf of Mexico. Locally known as Hutchison Boulevard, it is signed east–west. The western terminus is an intersection with SR 30 Alternate near Youpon Road; the eastern terminus is an intersection with SR 30 at Thomas Drive.
On the eastern approach to the Hathaway Bridge, SR 30 and US 98 separate at the corner of 18th Street and Beck Avenue in Panama City. US 98 and SR 30A continues eastward along 15th Street, passing through Cedar Grove and Springfield before a southward 90-degree turn onto North Tyndall Parkway in Callaway. As US 98/SR 30A approach the New DuPont Bridge across East Bay, its run ends with the merge with Business US 98/SR 30 near Long Point.
US 98 Business and SR 30 in Panama City and Callaway
While US 98/SR 30A follows 15th Street through Panama City and Callaway before reaching North Tyndall Parkway, US 98 Business and SR 30 follows Ninth Street, Beach Dr, Sixth Street, and Fifth Street before curving southward and eastward (through Parker before rejoining US 98 on the approach to the New Dupont Bridge. The merge marks the eastern terminus of the US 98 Business.
State Road 30B is an unsigned road in Pensacola known locally as Gregory Square. Running east from Gregory Street, it dead ends at a culdesac a mere later. The road was once part of State Road 30, until it was realigned.
Former and current SR 30A: a loop near Port St. Joe
After FDOT started phasing out a set of Florida State Roads in the late 1970s and early 1980s and reverted them to county maintenance, many State Roads disappeared from road maps, and many others were greatly truncated or transformed. One such drastically-affected road was SR 30A, which formed a loop in Gulf and Franklin counties. Historically, SR 30A veered southward from US 98/SR 30 south of Port St. Joe, near the communities of Oak Grove and Ward Ridge, and followed Sand Bar Road along the shoreline of St. Joseph Bay past the St. Joseph Point Lighthouse before turning to the east to follow the shore of Bay San Blas, Indian Lagoon, and Saint Vincent Sound before rejoining US 98/SR 30 east of Nine Mile. Today, only the north–south section is still signed SR 30A. The east–west stretch is now County Road 30A.
Former State Road 30B
State Road 30B existed on the St. Joseph Peninsula and is known locally as Indian Pass Road. It was a scenic route, with the western terminus at an intersection with SR 30A and an eastern terminus at the Indian Pass campground.
State Road 30E
State Road 30E exists on the St. Joseph Peninsula and is known locally as Cape San Blas Road. It's a scenic route, with the western terminus in St. Joseph Peninsula State Park near Eagle Harbor. Eastbound motorists drive by the T.H. Stone Memorial and the Cape San Blas lighthouse as they approach the terminus of SR 30E, an intersection with the SR 30A loop roughly a mile south of St. Joseph Point Lighthouse.
