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54-749: The transit center is the transfer point between the Orange Line and VTA's Rapid   522 bus rapid transit route which offers service south to the Eastridge Transit Center or west to Downtown San Jose , San Jose Diridon station , and the Palo Alto Transit Center . This article related to light rail in the United States is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Santa Clara County, California train station-related article

108-848: A bypass of U.S. Route 101 (US 101) in the Santa Clara Valley area, running through the foothill cities of Los Gatos , Saratoga , Cupertino , roughly paralleling the Santa Cruz Mountains up to its interchange with I-280. The highway is officially known as the West Valley Freeway along its entire length. A significant portion of the route is also signed as the Norman Y. Mineta Highway , after former San Jose Mayor, U.S. Congressman, Secretary of Commerce, and Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta . Its northernmost segment between I-280 and US 101, paralleling

162-434: A 65 MPH speed limit in 1996. 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 . Public outcry convinced Caltrans to install the standard post-and-metal-beam barrier

216-461: A consortium of operators, in which the agency is a participant, and the consortium sets the fares for such services. California State Route 85 State Route 85 ( SR 85 ) is a state highway which connects the cities of southern San Jose and Mountain View in the U.S. State of California . The highway intersects with major highways such as I-280 , SR 17 , and SR 87 . The route serves as

270-453: 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

324-486: A large tree nursery , a driving range, and among other things, overflow parking for De Anza College . State Route 9 originally extended from its current terminus to Mission San Jose along present-day SR 85, SR 237, I-680, SR 262, and SR 238. When the San Jose-Oakland US 101E designation was dropped in 1935, Route 5 between Mission San Jose (where the new SR 21 turned northeast) and Hayward did not retain

378-451: A precursor to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service, the Rapid 522 [1] . This service operates along one of Santa Clara County's major commercial corridors, El Camino Real , between Palo Alto and East San Jose. It stops at 30 intersections and transit centers that provide timed and extensive connections to other bus and light rail services, a far fewer number of stops than line 22 that operates on

432-446: 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. HOV or carpool lanes run along the entire length of SR 85. They require at least two people in a car on weekdays from 5-9 am and 3-7 pm, or a car with an "Access OK" sticker. Caltrans is converting these existing HOV lanes to high-occupancy toll (HOT) or Express lanes. Construction of

486-442: A signed designation. Later SR 9 was extended north along SR 17 (which had replaced SR 13) from Milpitas to Warm Springs, SR 21 to Mission San Jose, and the independent section of former US 101E - all part of Route 5 - to US 50 (also Route 5, which included a branch to Oakland) near Hayward. Except for a short realignment in the mid-1950s onto Route 69 (now I-880 and SR 262) between Milpitas and Warm Springs, this alignment remained until

540-525: 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

594-459: A total cost of about $ 237 million. When the SR 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. Unfortunately, large sections of

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648-465: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a building or structure in San Jose, California is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . List of Santa Clara VTA bus routes#522 The following is a list of Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority bus routes. Route numbers are classified as follows: VTA embarked on a large network redesign that

702-522: Is that SR 85 (instead of I-280) serves as the northern terminus of SR 17 and the southern terminus of I-880 . Although not planned, it is possible to truncate SR 17 further to SR 85 due to the segment meeting interstate standards as well as I-880 still terminating at its parent interstate, I-80 , in Oakland. This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System and is part of

756-466: Is weekdays between 5:00 am and 8:00 pm. Solo drivers are tolled using a congestion pricing system based on the real-time levels of traffic. Two-person carpools and clean air vehicles with a solo driver are charged 50 percent of the posted toll. Carpools with three or more people and motorcycles are not charged. All tolls are collected using an open road tolling system, and therefore there are no toll booths to receive cash. Each vehicle using

810-471: The Ames Research Center . SR 85 has 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

864-693: The Bay Area Air Quality Management District . These mainly operate weekdays only (except holidays). All shuttles listed below originate from Great America Station and are operated in coordination with ACE train arrival times in the morning peak and departure times in the afternoon peak. For a map of these services, click here The VTA collaborates with other regional agencies that operate into and out of Santa Clara County with inter-agency transfers and commuter benefits. However, these lines do not use VTA's own buses nor levy VTA's bus fares; instead, these are operated by

918-609: The I-580 truck ban in Oakland and SR 2 truck ban in Angeles National Forest ). Thus, SR 85 became one of the handfuls of California freeways that do not allow such tractor semis. The restriction is legally in effect from SR 85's southern terminus at U.S. Route 101 to Interstate 280 (exit 19B), although current signage permits southbound trucks to travel further to Stevens Creek Boulevard (exit 18). This ban has been

972-647: The National Highway System , a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration . In 2014, SR 85 had an annual average daily traffic (AADT) of 58,000 at Bernal Road, and 129,500 at SR 87 , the latter of which was the highest AADT for the highway. The cities along the proposed route also pushed to prohibit trucks over 4.5 short tons (4.1 t; 4.0 long tons) from using SR 85 (similar to

1026-535: The Sierra Club as well as the cities of Saratoga , Los Gatos , and Mountain View for a lack in efficient public transit and higher dependence on automobiles (similar to Los Angeles in the 1960s-1970s) and also criticized VTA at attempting to breach the original 1989 contract which reserved the median divider for mass transportation (presumably light rail). As of August 2022 , the HOT lanes' hours of operation

1080-668: The Stevens Creek , also is known as the Stevens Creek Freeway . SR 85 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 US 101 in Mountain View, was built in the 1960s. The second half, running 18.5 miles from US 101 in southern San Jose to Stevens Creek Boulevard in Cupertino, remained unbuilt until

1134-462: The 1964 renumbering when SR 9 would eventually be truncated to its existing terminus in Los Gatos. From 1963 to 1965, SR 85 was a 10-mile highway that entirely on surface streets from US 101 near SR 237 to I-280 along Mathilda Ave and Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road (a portion of which was later renamed De Anza Blvd) while the current freeway was being planned. The northern segment was rerouted in 1965 once

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1188-441: The 1980s and was opened in segments between 1991 and 1994. Prior to the construction of the freeway, the route was signed along Mathilda Avenue and De Anza Boulevard from US 101 near SR 237 southwards until its junction with SR 9 in Saratoga, which then served as its southern terminus until it was decommissioned the same day the freeway opened. SR 85 begins at an interchange with US 101 and heads due west through San Jose . Near

1242-421: The 1990s had a total cost of about $ 785 million. The remaining ramps at the SR 85/87 interchange (from 85 south to 87 north and 87 south to 85 north) were completed in 2003. Before these ramps were constructed, travelers had to use Santa Teresa Boulevard (which 87 turned into at its southern terminus) to join 85 north; similarly, travelers on 85 south had to exit at Santa Teresa Boulevard in order to access 87. At

1296-460: The HOT lanes is required to carry either a FasTrak Flex or CAV (Clean Air Vehicle) transponder, with its switch set to indicate the number of the vehicle's occupants (1, 2, or 3 or more). Solo drivers may also use the FasTrak standard tag without the switch. Drivers without any FasTrak tag will be assessed a toll violation regardless of whether they qualified for free. Land was set aside for

1350-523: The Milpitas and Berryessa BART stations, and most light rail stations. Some lines also provide connecting services to other transit agencies, including AC Transit , Dumbarton Express , Monterey-Salinas Transit , and SamTrans . Included in this listing are VTA's limited-stop Rapid services, as those levy the same cash fares as regular local buses. Currently, the VTA operates one arterial rapid transit line,

1404-715: The Santa Clara-Alum Rock Bus Rapid Transit Project [2] , which will upgrade the section of the Rapid 522 between Eastridge Transit Center and the SAP Center at San Jose to BRT service. The new BRT service will feature special hybrid vehicles with Wi-Fi on board, enhanced stations, dedicated lanes on Alum Rock, transit signal priority, electronic real-time information message signs, off-board payment and all-door boarding to speed up stops, and service every 10 minutes at peak times. In

1458-928: The Westfield Oakridge Mall in San Jose, SR 85 has an interchange with the southern terminus of the SR 87 freeway, which provides easy access to the San Jose International Airport. 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 . It 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

1512-400: 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,

1566-461: 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

1620-483: The entire concrete surfaced section of the freeway from Almaden Expressway to Stevens Creek Boulevard was microgrooved in a follow-up project in 2005. Besides the funding breakthrough, SR 85 set new standards in two additional areas: metering lights and median safety barriers. SR 85 was the first freeway in California to open with metering lights at every onramp, including interchanges with SR 17 and US 101. When

1674-416: The entire freeway in the 1950s, with maps first showing the proposed freeway in 1957. At the time, Santa Clara County still largely a rural area, consisting 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

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1728-401: 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

1782-469: 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— I-280 , US 101 , and SR 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

1836-525: The express lanes started in fall 2020, with the first phase between the Central Expressway and SR 85's northern terminus at US 101 opening on February 11, 2022. An extension south to SR 87 is scheduled for 2026. The city of Cupertino filed suit against Caltrans in May 2015 for failure to do a full Environmental Impact Report , and the project attracted overwhelmingly negative reception from

1890-515: The freeway bed; this caused a traffic jam as motorists slowed to read the message. The flowers were removed after the first day. The route has had a speed limit of 65 MPH since 1996. 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

1944-550: The freeway had to be repainted prior to opening, due to graffiti. The segment from Santa Teresa Boulevard to US 101 in South San Jose was further repaved in 2011 (Northbound) and 2018 (Southbound). Like most California urban freeways at the time it was built, SR 85 originally used a mix of nonreflective and reflective raised pavement markers (i.e., Botts dots and Stimsonite reflectors) to mark lanes. After California phased out Botts' dots (leaving Stimsonite reflectors as

1998-477: 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

2052-885: The future 85/87 interchange) and Cottle Road in 1991 with only 2 lanes in each direction, along with the light rail line in the median of SR 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 SR 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 HOV lanes were painted on this segment in April 1994. The remaining segments, from US 101 (in South San Jose) to Great Oaks and from Almaden Expressway to I-280, opened in August 1994 and October 1994 respectively. The projects completed in

2106-1027: The future, VTA has plans to upgrade the rest of the Rapid 522 route to BRT service with the El Camino Real Bus Rapid Transit Project [3] . VTA replaced Express line 168 with line 568 in October 2021 due to many passenger complaints that line 68 took too long to get between Gilroy and San Jose. Line 568 is a weekday service that has fewer stops than line 68 with quicker travel times between Gilroy and San Jose, but utilizes Monterey Road rather than using local freeways like most Express routes except for most of Morgan Hill. VTA's Express Bus routes operate along many of Santa Clara County's freeways, including Highway 85 , Highway 237 , Interstate 280 and U.S. Route 101 . These routes use suburban-style Gillig low-floor buses with unique color schemes and onboard Wi-Fi. These services mainly operate during weekday peak periods only, operating in

2160-513: The interchanges at Blossom Hill Road and SR 87 was placed in 1986. Construction of the first structures (at the SR 85/87 and SR 85/Stevens Creek interchanges) broke ground on April 20, 1988. During the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989, these segments, along with the other segments under construction, were spared major damage despite being approximately 10 miles north of the epicenter. SR 85 opened between Santa Teresa Boulevard (at

2214-418: 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

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2268-539: 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 SR 87-to-SR 85 interchange, the Almaden Expressway on-ramps, and the Blossom Hill Road on-ramps. From 1994 to 1996, the speed limit on the freeway was 55 MPH. It was one of the first urban freeways to receive

2322-437: The northern segment of the freeway opened. The southern segment was deleted in 1994 on the same day the remainder of the current freeway opened. 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:

2376-547: The only kind of raised pavement marker) and transitioned to wider lane stripes, the freeway was repainted to the new standard in late 2019 (similar to I-15 in Cajon Pass). In October 1994, the completed freeway between Almaden Expressway and I-280 opened with the "Party on the Freeway", a single day on which only pedestrians and bicyclists were allowed to travel its length. The evening before opening day several cities along

2430-595: 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

2484-403: 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 cities' 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

2538-785: The same corridor. On January 6, 2014, VTA expanded the Rapid 522 hours on weekdays and Saturdays to end at approximately 10:30 pm while introducing a new Sunday schedule operating between 9 am and 6 pm. This service operates daily; for service outside of operating hours, use Line 22. Similar to the BRT systems for which it is a precursor, Rapid Line 522 utilizes queue-jump lanes, traffic signal priority, and enhanced bus stop designs that provide riders with quicker service to and from major attractions in Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, and San Jose. VTA started construction in March 2014 on

2592-410: The same-named West Valley College , both community colleges in the area. Near interchange with SR 17 , SR 85 runs next to the headquarters of Netflix in Los Gatos. VTA light rail runs in the median of SR 85 between the 85-87 interchange and its southern terminus as well as below it in Mountain View. An infamous misconception for some commuters and businesses in San Jose, Campbell, and Los Gatos

2646-541: 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 . The entire route

2700-400: The southern SR 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

2754-438: 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

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2808-429: The tax. The northern section, from Stevens Creek Boulevard in Cupertino to US 101 at Mountain View, was completed and opened on 8 December 1965 as four lanes (I-280 was not complete north of SR 85 up to SR 92 until a few years later so certain ramps remained closed until the 1970s). The northern section's carpool lanes were completed in 1990 (south half) and 1998 (north half). In the southern section, partial fill for

2862-1262: The typical commute direction. Due to the large subsidy per rider to operate express bus routes, VTA eliminated most express bus routes in the December 28, 2019 network redesign, except for those serving the Stanford Research Park, which funded the cost of operating the service. Fares are higher than standard bus fares. VTA operates a collection of routes timed specifically to serve students at local high schools. These services only operate around bell times when schools are in session. The VTA, in conjunction with many private entities and high-tech companies, as well as in coordination with Altamont Corridor Express , operates free shuttles to and from various light rail stations and Great America Station to serve businesses in Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Milpitas, Santa Clara, and San Jose. Passengers can ride these shuttles for free as funding for these services are provided by grants from high-tech companies and business associations based in Santa Clara County, as well as from

2916-697: Was implemented on December 28, 2019. This eliminated the DASH shuttle, Almaden Light Rail shuttle, limited-branded bus service, community bus service, and many express routes but established a core frequent network and increased service on numerous local bus routes. In 2023, VTA's bus system had a ridership of 21,419,200, or about 77,300 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024. Santa Clara VTA operates numerous bus lines that operate on most major thoroughfares throughout Santa Clara County. Several of these lines converge at key transfer points, including Downtown San Jose, several Caltrain stations between Palo Alto and Gilroy,

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