CALIFORNIA STATE ROUTE 85 - Stevens Creek/West Valley Freeway

Highway 85 is a 24-mile freeway serving the communities of San Jose, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cupertino, Sunnyvale and Mountain View. The original 8-mile segment from Stevens Creek Blvd in Cupertino to U.S. 101 in Mountain View is known as the Stevens Creek Freeway. The new 18-mile extension from Cupertino to U.S. 101 in south San Jose is known as the West Valley Freeway. The new segment of Highway 85 was built with the help of a 1/2 cent sales tax approved in 1984 and was opened to traffic in 1994.

The entire freeway was recently signed as the Mineta Highway.


Exit 377A Exit Number Installed
Exit 377A Exit Number Not Installed

Exit 2
North

Cottle Road used to make up the western edge of the IBM campus located in south San Jose. A massive residential and commercial development is being constructed on the property.

Exit 4
North

Blossom Hill Road is a major east-west route connecting south San Jose and Los Gatos. An expanded Oakridge Mall is located a couple of miles west of the freeway.

Exit 5A
North

Highway 87/Guadalupe Pkwy is the main freeway into downtown San Jose and the Mineta San Jose Int'l Airport.

Exit 5B
North

Santa Teresa Blvd is a major north-south road through south San Jose to Morgan Hill and Gilroy.

Use this exit to reach the Oakridge Mall which is located just south of the freeway.

Exit 6
North

Part of the county's expressway system, Almaden Expwy provides commuters with a fast route from the mostly residential Almaden Valley. It used to be the fastest route to downtown San Jose until Hwy 87 was built. When Hwy 87 is congested (which is pretty common), this is a good alternate route.

Exit 8
North

Camden Avenue connects the neighborhoods of the Almaden Valley with west-central San Jose and Campbell. Camden turns into San Tomas Expwy west of Hwy 17.

Exit 9
North

Union Avenue serves the residential areas of the Blossom Valley region of south San Jose.

Exit 10
North

Los Gatos Blvd heads south from the freeway into eastern Los Gatos which is home to a number of car dealerships. Bascom Avenue is a major north-south road through central San Jose.

Exit 11
North

Highway 17 connects the coastal city of Santa Cruz to San Jose. Less than 3 miles south of Hwy 85, Hwy 17 becomes and curvy mountain highway. North of Hwy 85, it passes through Campbell before becoming Interstate 880 at the junction with Interstate 280.

Exit 14
North

Saratoga Avenue is the only exit located in the city of Saratoga. It's worth noting that Saratoga fought the hardest to keep Hwy 85 from being built.

Exit 16
North

De Anza Blvd is a major north-south road through Cupertino connecting it with Saratoga to the south and Sunnyvale to the north.

This sign originally read "Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road" but was changed when the city of San Jose joined Cupertino in naming this road De Anza Blvd.

Exit 18
North

Stevens Creek Blvd is the major north-south road through Cupertion. De Anza College is located just east of the freeway.

Exit 19
North

Interstate 280 is one of two freeways linking San Jose and San Francisco. In general, Interstate 280 is a more scenic and less congested route.

Exit 20
North

Fremont Avenue serves the residential areas of eastern Los Altos and western Sunnyvale.

Exit 22A
North

Southbound Hwy82/El Camino Real passes through Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and San Jose. Hwy 82 eventually becomes Monterey Highway south of downtown San Jose.

Exit 22B
North

Northbound El Camino Real will take you through Mountain View and other peninsula cities like Palo Alto, Redwood City, San Mateo and San Bruno before reaching San Francisco. El Camino Real used to be U.S. 101 before the Bayshore Freeway was built.

Exit 22C
North

Highway 237 is an east-west freeway that connects Mountain View to Milpitas across the northern part of the valley. It is a freeway from Mountain View to Interstate 880 in Milpitas. East of 880, Hwy 237 is a very busy city street.

This exit is also the "direct connector" to southbound U.S. 101.

Exit 23
North

Evelyn Avenue parallels the Caltrain tracks and Central Expwy. It connects the downtown areas of Sunnyvale and Mountain View.

Exit 24A
North

Moffett Blvd connects downtown Mountain View to the Moffett Federal Airfield and NASA/AMES.

Exit 24B
North

U.S. 101 north heads to San Francisco and points north along the California coast. The 85/101 interchange was reconstructed in May of 2006 and now features braided ramps and a carpool-to-carpool ramp connecting north 85 to north 101 and south 101 to south 85.

Exit 24C
North

This is a new exit for Hwy 85 that was added when the 85/101 interchange was rebuilt. A number of tech companies including Google make their home along or near Shoreline Blvd. The Shoreline Amphitheater is located north of the freeway.