Interstate 85 (California)

Interstate 85 (California) is a north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway located entirely within Santa Clara County in the San Francisco Bay Area. It serves as a vital connector between the major employment centers of Silicon Valley, linking San Jose with Mountain View and Cupertino. The freeway, officially designated the Norman Y. Mineta Highway, provides a critical bypass of the congested U.S. Route 101 corridor for local commuter traffic. Its entire length is concurrently signed as State Route 85 under California's legislative route definitions.

Route description

Interstate 85 begins at a complex interchange with U.S. Route 101 in southern San Jose, near the Coyote Valley. From this terminus, it heads northwest through the western foothills of the Santa Clara Valley, passing through the communities of Los Gatos and Saratoga. The route then turns more directly north, traversing the cities of Cupertino and Sunnyvale, where it provides direct access to major corporate campuses like those of Apple and Lockheed Martin. Throughout its course, I-85 features a landscaped median and is generally an eight-lane freeway. It concludes at a directional interchange with Interstate 280 in Mountain View, just west of the NASA Ames Research Center.

History

The corridor that became Interstate 85 was originally planned in the 1960s as part of the extensive California Freeway and Expressway System. Construction of the initial segments began in the late 1980s, with the first portion opening to traffic in San Jose in 1991. The freeway was built in several phases over the following decade, a project managed by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in coordination with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. The final segment, connecting Cupertino to Mountain View, was completed and opened in 1994. In 2001, the California Legislature designated the entire freeway as the Norman Y. Mineta Highway, honoring the former San Jose Mayor, Congressman, and U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

Exit list

The entire route is in Santa Clara County. All exits are unnumbered but are listed sequentially from south to north. Key interchanges include the southern terminus at U.S. 101 (Exit 1A-B), followed by exits for Blossom Hill Road, Camden Avenue, and Saratoga Avenue serving Los Gatos. Further north, major junctions provide access to State Route 17, Interstate 280 (via Foothill Expressway), SR 85 (concurrent routing), and Stevens Creek Boulevard. The northern terminus is the interchange with I-280 in Mountain View.

See also

* Interstate Highway System * State Route 85 (California) * Norman Mineta * Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority * Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area

Category:Interstate Highways in California Category:Transportation in Santa Clara County, California