California State Route 85
State Route 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 a bypass of U.S. Route 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 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 the 1990s 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.
Route description
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, 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 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 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 is that SR 85 serves as the northern terminus of SR 17 and the southern terminus of I-880.
This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System and is part of 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 of 58,000 at Bernal Road, and 129,500 at SR 87, the latter of which was the highest AADT for the highway.
Truck ban
The cities along the proposed route also pushed to prohibit trucks over from using SR85. 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 SR85's southern terminus at U.S. Route 101 to Interstate 280, although current signage permits southbound trucks to travel further to Stevens Creek Boulevard. This ban 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.HOV and HOT lanes
lanes run along most of SR85. These lanes require a minimum of two occupants per vehicle during peak hours on weekdays, from 5 to 9a.m. and from 3 to 7p.m. Outside of these hours, the lanes are open to all vehicles without restriction.In the 2010s, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority developed plans to convert SR85's HOV lanes into high-occupancy toll lanes as part of the Silicon Valley Express Lanes Program. The proposed conversion would allow single-occupant vehicles to use the lanes for a toll, while preserving free access for high-occupancy vehicles. Early community concerns included environmental impacts and potential conflicts with a 1989 agreement reserving the freeway median for future mass transit, leading to lawsuits from several cities along the path of the freeway.
Construction of the first segment—between Central Expressway and the northern terminus of SR85 at US101—began in fall 2020 and opened in February 2022. A second, non-contiguous segment—between SR87 and the southern terminus of SR85 at U.S.101—began construction in June 2025 and is scheduled to open in late 2028. Both segments repurpose existing direct connector ramps linking SR 85 and US 101. Long-term plans call for connecting these segments, with environmental clearance already secured but no set timeline.
, the HOT lanes' hours of operation is weekdays between 5:00 am and 8:00 pm; they are otherwise free and open to all vehicles at other times. Solo drivers are tolled using a congestion pricing system based on the real-time levels of traffic. Two-person carpools 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 the HOT lanes is required to carry a FasTrak Flex transponder with its switch set to indicate the number of the vehicle's occupants. 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.
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 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 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 a large tree nursery, a driving range, and among other things, overflow parking for De Anza College.
Historic and original alignments
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 and Hayward did not retain a signed designation. Later SR 9 was extended north along SR 17 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 near Hayward. Except for a short realignment in the mid-1950s onto Route 69 between Milpitas and Warm Springs, this alignment remained until 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 while the current freeway was being planned. The northern segment was rerouted in 1965 once 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.
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, 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 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 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.