California State Route 85

State Route 85
West Valley Freeway
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Route information
Defined by Streets and Highways Code § 385
Maintained by Caltrans
Length:	23.7 mi (38.1 km)
Existed:	July 1, 1964 – present
Restrictions:	No trucks over 4.5 tons
Major junctions
South end:	US 101 in San Jose
	SR 87 in San Jose SR 17 in Los Gatos I-280 in Cupertino SR 82 in Mountain View
North end:	US 101 in Mountain View
Highway system
State highways in California Interstate U.S. State Pre-1964 History Unconstructed Deleted Freeway Scenic ← SR 84 SR 86 →

Route 85 through much of Saratoga and Los Gatos is a sunken highway.

State Route 85 (SR 85) is a freeway which connects the cities of Mountain View and southern San Jose in the U.S. State of California. The freeway, along its entire length, is named the West Valley Freeway. Sections of the route also possess additional names: a significant portion of the route is also signed as the Norman Y. Mineta Highway; also, a section which passes through Saratoga is named the CHP Officer Scott M. Greenly Memorial Freeway, whose namesake was killed in the line of duty on that stretch of freeway; finally, the stretch north of Interstate 280 is known as the Stevens Creek Freeway. The route provides an alternative to U.S. Route 101, bypassing downtown San Jose and instead passing through Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Saratoga, Los Gatos, and San Jose's Cambrian Park, Almaden Valley, Blossom Valley, and Santa Teresa neighborhoods. The highway intersects with Interstate 280, Highway 17, and Highway 87. Its total length is 23.7 miles (38.1 km); the length of Highway 101 that it bypasses is 21.3 miles (34.3 km).

The freeway was built in two phases: the first, comprising the northern half, runs 5.7 miles from Stevens Creek Boulevard near Interstate 280 to its northern terminus at U.S. 101 in Mountain View, was built in the 1960s. The second half, running 18.5 miles from U.S. 101 in southern San Jose to Stevens Creek Boulevard in Cupertino, remained unbuilt until the 1980s and was opened in 1994. Prior to the construction of the southern half, the route was signed along surface streets from the end of the freeway portion southwards until its junction with Route 9 in Saratoga, which served as its southern terminus.

Route description

This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System. SR 85 has carpool lanes for its entire length.

SR 85 begins at an interchange with US 101 and heads due west through San Jose. Near the Westfield Oakridge Mall in San Jose, SR 85 has an interchange with the southern terminus of the SR 87 freeway. SR 85 continues west into Los Gatos, where it intersects the SR 17 freeway. SR 85 briefly enters Campbell and reenters San Jose before crossing into Saratoga. SR 85 turns northwest and briefly reenters San Jose before entering Cupertino and passing right next to De Anza College. SR 85 then interchanges with I-280 before briefly entering Sunnyvale and Los Altos and then entering Mountain View, where it first intersects SR 237 before terminating at US 101 near the Ames Research Center.

Although SR 85 mainly passes through suburban Bay Area cities, it does have several points of interest. The northern terminus is located near Moffett Field, with its huge Hangar 1. Google's main campus and Microsoft's Silicon Valley Campus are located near the northern end of the freeway. Near the interchange with Interstate 280, SR 85 runs close to the headquarters of Apple Inc. and next to De Anza College as well as the same-named West Valley College, both community colleges in the area. VTA light rail runs in the median of SR 85 between the 85-87 interchange & the southern terminus.

History

Preserving the right-of-way

Land was set aside for the entire freeway in the 1950s, with maps first showing the proposed freeway in 1957. At the time, Santa Clara County still consisted largely of orchards, and so the right-of-way touched very few existing structures. During Governor Jerry Brown's tenure in the 1970s, the building of highways was de-emphasized in favor of mass transit, and some building was allowed on the right-of-way with the expectation that the freeway would never be built. Local government officials, however, fought to preserve the right-of-way and succeeded in doing so. As a result, when congestion on other freeways—Interstate 280, US 101, and Highway 17—intersecting this path became overwhelming, it was still possible for this freeway to be built with little demolition required.

In the interim, parts of the unused open space were leased for use without permanent structures, including a large tree nursery, a driving range, and among other things, overflow parking for De Anza College.

Funding and planning

The town of Los Gatos and city of Saratoga added to the complexity and cost of the planning and implementation; to avoid excessive noise, they insisted that the freeway be built below grade (at an eventual additional cost of US$60 million), that it have only three lanes in each direction: the leftmost lane being a HOV lane, and two lanes carrying standard traffic. In addition, to prevent what they felt would be excessive additional traffic on their surface streets, they lobbied heavily to prevent having any freeway entrances or exits in their cities. Full interchanges were originally planned at Winchester Boulevard, Quito Road, Saratoga Avenue, and Prospect Road; the final compromise placed only a half interchange at Winchester and completely did away with the Quito and Prospect interchanges. As a result, backups at entrances to the freeway near these cities are tremendous during morning rush hour, and Los Gatos and Campbell residents who want to take 85 southward must go two or three miles (3 to 5 km) out of their way to find a ramp onto the freeway.

The project was the first in the state for which county residents voted to tax themselves to build a state highway. Because state funds were scarce and congestion on other freeways and on surrounding surface streets was tremendous, a slight majority of voters (56%) voted for the tax in 1984. At the time, there was considerable controversy over whether funds would be better spent on mass transit and whether a freeway through so many residential areas would destroy the quality of life. The total US$785 million cost of the freeway was mostly funded by the special tax on county residents, along with matching state and federal funds. The project proved successful enough that, since then, many other locales have used local taxes to build state projects. It was also so effective as a solution to traffic problems that, several years after it was built, a poll by the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group revealed that nearly 80% of voters claimed that they had voted for the tax.

Construction of the freeway

The northern section, from Stevens Creek Boulevard in Cupertino to U.S. 101 at Mountain View, was completed and opened on 8 December 1965 as four lanes (two in each direction). The northern section's carpool lanes were completed in 1990 (south half) and 1998 (north half). In the southern section, partial fill for the interchanges at Blossom Hill Road and Highway 87 was placed in 1986. Construction of the first structures (at the Highway 85/87 and Highway 85/Stevens Creek interchanges) began in approximately 1987-1988. Highway 85 opened between Santa Teresa Boulevard (at the future 85/87 interchange) and Cottle Road in 1991, along with the light rail line in the median of Highway 85. The extensions to Almaden Expressway and Great Oaks Boulevard were completed in 1992. With the completion of the southern leg (from I-280 to 85) of Highway 87 in 1993, the 85/87 interchange opened to traffic that year (with only two connector ramps, from 85 north to 87 north and 87 south to 85 south, due to funding limitations). The remaining segments, from Highway 101 (in South San Jose) to Great Oaks and from Almaden Expressway to I-280, opened in 1994. The projects completed in the 1990s had a total cost of about $785 million.

The remaining ramps at the Highway 85/87 interchange (from 85 south to 87 north and 87 south to 85 north) were completed in 2003. At the southern Highway 85/101 interchange in South San Jose, carpool-to-carpool ramps and the south 101 to north 85 connector ramp were opened in 2004. The $125 million reconstruction of the northern Highway 85/101 interchange in Mountain View, with the original ramps (opened in 1965) replaced and new carpool-to-carpool and other ramps added, was completed in 2006. The projects completed in the 2000s had a total cost of about $237 million. There is still one missing connector in the Highway 85 system left to the future—the flyover ramp from 85 south to 101 north at the southern interchange.

When the Highway 17/85 interchange was built in the early 1990s, Caltrans built a tunnel that was to carry traffic from north 17 to north 85, similar to the tunnel that carries traffic from south 17 to south 85. But due to insufficient funds, the second tunnel was sealed at both ends by the dirt embankment, with a loop ramp provided instead.

Truck ban

The cities along the proposed route also pushed to prohibit trucks over 4.5 tons (4.0 metric tons) from using SR 85 (similar to the I-580 truck ban in Oakland). Thus, SR 85 became one of the handful of California freeways that do not allow such tractor semis. The restriction is technically in effect from U.S. Route 101 in the south to Interstate 280 in the north. This has been a prime factor in reducing the level of noise that the freeway would otherwise produce as most large trucks are unable to use the freeway.

The results

In October 1994, the completed freeway between Almaden Expressway and I-280 opened with a single day on which only pedestrians and bicyclists were allowed to travel its length. The evening before opening day several cities along the route including Saratoga and Campbell held street fair events on the freeway featuring fine food, wine, and games. Limo service was offered linking the different city's fairs giving locals their first glimpse of the new freeway. The next morning 85 was officially opened to traffic. The city of Campbell had planted a large display of pansies spelling out the city's name on the sloped side of the freeway bed; this caused a traffic jam as motorists slowed to read the message. The flowers were removed after the first day.

The overall commute for people from south San Jose through Campbell into Mountain View and other business areas of Silicon Valley improved by roughly half an hour over previous longer routes on already crowded freeways or over miles of surface streets. Major surface streets that had once been unnavigable during many hours of the day suddenly became—and remained—usable. For example, eastern Blossom Hill Road had a typical load of 23,000 cars a day before 85 opened; as of 2004, a typical day's load was a mere 11,000 cars. (Conversely, Saratoga Avenue, which previously had been a fairly quiet road, now sees about 18,000 cars a day because it is the only interchange in or near the city of Saratoga.)

As with any freeway, ambient noise in surrounding neighborhoods increased, from a steadily annoying whisper of sound day and night to a dull roar that muted backyard conversations. Property values, however, did not diminish; it is possible that the improved commute and access to the vast California freeway network improved the desirability of these neighborhoods. The noise level however has continued to be an issue with some residents, particularly in Saratoga. Caltrans has floated several options from repaving with asphalt, to grinding down the current concrete surface of the highway. An experimental length of the freeway from Cox Avenue to De Anza Boulevard was ground down in 2003. This smoothed out much of the top layer of the freeway removing most of the rain grooves that had been cut in the concrete when the highway was first built. The result did lower the ambient sound levels along that stretch of the freeway, and subsequently the entire concrete surfaced section of the freeway from Almaden Expressway to Stevens Creek Boulevard was microgrooved in a follow up project in 2005.

Other Unique features and events

Besides the funding breakthrough, SR 85 set new standards in two additional areas: metering lights and median safety barriers.

Route 85 was the first freeway in California to open with metering lights at every onramp, including interchanges with Routes 17 and 101. When the freeway opened on October 19, 1994, the lights caused tremendous backups at the onramps during commute hours, raising an outcry from commuters furious at having to wait as much as 20 to 30 minutes in the worst cases before entering the freeway. The county required Caltrans to turn off the metering lights, which they did on November 17, 1994. This almost immediately slowed the commute over the full 24 mile (39 km) stretch by 33 minutes; Caltrans eventually turned the lights back on in 1995, which sped up the overall commute considerably.

In January 2009, several metering lights in the southern portion of SR 85 were reactivated. These included the Route 87-to-Route 85 interchange, the Almaden Expressway on-ramps, and the Blossom Hill Road on-ramps.

The freeway was constructed with a 46-to-50-foot (14–15 m) wide center median. Initially, no barrier of any kind was installed in the median because, at the time, Caltrans regulations stated that any median wider than 45 feet (14 m) did not require a median barrier unless there was a history of head-on collisions. However, within the first year, one person died, and in a one-year period from 1996 to 1997 six more were killed in head-on collisions by cars crossing the median at high speeds. Public outcry convinced Caltrans to install the standard post-and-metal-beam barrier the entire length of the freeway and also to change their regulations so that median barriers are now required on all high-volume freeways with medians of less than 75 feet (23 m). Accidents and injuries dropped by roughly one third in the first year after the barrier was installed.

In 1998, California Highway Patrol officer Scott Greenly was struck by a car and killed while issuing a ticket on the shoulder of Route 85; thereafter the portion between Quito Road and Prospect Road in the City of Saratoga was named the CHP Officer Scott M. Greenly Memorial Freeway. On September 15, 2008, the remainder of the freeway, north of Prospect Road as well as south of Quito Road, was named in honor of former San Jose mayor, congressman, and United States Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta.

Silicon Valley Express Lanes Project

VTA will be converting the existing HOV lanes on 85 to High Occupancy Vehicle or Express lanes from US 101 at Bailey Ave to US 101 possibly at Embarcadero Rd(because of the recent Palo Alto auxiliary lanes project). This might add either a third regular lane from US 101 in San Jose to I-280 in Cupertino or a second express lane from SR 87 in San Jose also to I-280 in Cupertino with several auxiliary lanes. The project is expected to start sometime in 2015 or 2016 and end in 2017. However, the city of Cupertino filed suit against Caltrans and VTA in May 2015 for failure to do a full Environmental Impact Report.

Exit list

Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, see the list of postmile definitions). Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The entire route is in Santa Clara County.

Location	Postmile	Exit	Destinations	Notes
San Jose	0.00	1A	US 101 south – Los Angeles	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; south end of SR 85; US 101 north exit 377A
	0.18	1B	To US 101 north / Bernal Road – San Francisco	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	0.79	1C	Great Oaks Boulevard	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	1.97	2	Cottle Road
	3.93	4	Blossom Hill Road (CR G10)
	5.22	5A	SR 87 north (Guadalupe Freeway) – Downtown San Jose, Mineta San Jose International Airport	Signed as exit 5B southbound; SR 87 exits 1A-B
	5.22	5B	Santa Teresa Boulevard	Signed as exit 5A southbound
	6.14	6	Almaden Expressway (CR G8)
	8.11	8	Camden Avenue
	9.28	9	Union Avenue
Los Gatos	R10.23	10	Bascom Avenue, Los Gatos Boulevard
	R10.50	11A	SR 17 – Santa Cruz, San Jose	Signed as exit 11 northbound; SR 17 exit 22
	R11.00	11B	Winchester Boulevard	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
Saratoga	R13.68	14	Saratoga Avenue
San Jose	R15.87	16	De Anza Boulevard	Former SR 85
Cupertino	R17.70	18	Stevens Creek Boulevard	Southbound trucks over 9,000 lbs. must exit
	R18.45	19A	I-280 (Junipero Serra Freeway) – San Jose, San Francisco	Signed as exit 19 northbound; I-280 exits 12A-B
	R18.86	19B	Homestead Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
Sunnyvale	R19.86	20	Fremont Avenue – Los Altos
Mountain View	R21.75	22	SR 82 (El Camino Real) / Grant Road – Mountain View, Sunnyvale	Signed as exits 22A (south, via SR 237 west) and 22B (north)
	R22.16	22C	SR 237 east to US 101 south (Bayshore Freeway) – Oakland, San Jose	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; SR 237 west exit 1B
	R22.63	23	Evelyn Avenue	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	R22.63	23	Central Expressway (CR G6)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	R23.44	24A	Moffett Boulevard	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	R23.87	24B	US 101 north (Bayshore Freeway) – San Francisco	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; north end of SR 85; US 101 south exit 398B
	R23.87	24C	Shoreline Boulevard	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access

External links

• Caltrans: Route 85 road conditions
• Route 85 at CAhighways.org
• Eric Buchanan's State Route 85 Photos Index page