After intersecting Interstate 75, it continues east and passes close to Lehigh Acres.

As it continues east, it crosses the southwest Florida farmlands and wetlands, a part of Big Cypress Swamp and the western edge of the Everglades drainage system.

After clipping the southwest corner of Hendry County, SR 82 enters Collier County and it briefly loses its median and becomes a two-lane agricultural road but expands back to a four-lane divided road about four miles later.

SR 82 was originally named Anderson Avenue within Fort Myers and it was an early city street.

In 1991, SR 82 west of I-75 in Fort Myers was renamed from Anderson Avenue to its current name, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

[2] Much of SR 82 east of Interstate 75 was upgraded and widened to a multi-lane divided highway in the 2010s and early 2020s.

[11][12] The Florida Department of Transportation is planning to widen the remaining undivided two-lane segment of SR 82 from the Collier County line to Gator Slough lane.

North of here, it was designated SR 861 (which was also signed along the discontinuous Homestead Road in Lehigh Acres).