U.S. 101 is major north-south highway
that spans the three Pacific coast states, Oregon, Washington and
California. U.S. 101 south starts at Interstate 5 in Olympia, Washington
and heads north as it circles the Olympic Peninsula. U.S 101 ends
at Interstate 5 in downtown Los Angeles. U.S. 101 is mostly freeway
or expressway through California but narrows to 2 lanes in Oregon
and Washington.
U.S. 101 enters Santa Clara County at
the Palo Alto city limits as an 8-lane freeway and continues as
a freeway through most of the county. South of Gilroy, U.S. 101
becomes a 4-lane expressway before crossing into San Benito county.
U.S. 101 was recently widened to 8 lanes
between Cochrane Road (Exit 367) and Bernal Road (Exit 377A).
Exit 377A
Exit Number Installed
Exit 377A
Exit Number Not Installed
Exit
386B
South
East of U.S. 101, McKee Road is lined with a number of businesses
and residential developments in east San Jose. West of U.S. 101,
Julian Street passes through the residential areas and heads into
downtown San Jose.
Exit
386A
South
Alum Rock Avenue/Highway 130 will take you to the top of Mount
Hamilton and the Lick Observatory. Mt. Hamilton is the highest
peak in Santa Clara County. Santa Clara Street heads right into
downtown San Jose.
Exit
385B
South
Interstate 280 is the scenic route to San Francisco via the coast
range. This is a good alternative to the more congested U.S. 101.
Interstate 680 is the main route out of Silicon Valley heading
to the inland east bay valleys and Sacramento.
Exit
385A
South
Use Story Road from U.S. 101 to get to Spartan Stadium. Story
runs through a heavy Hispanic and Vietnamese neighborhood.
Exit
383
South
To the east on Tully Road is the Eastridge Mall and Reid-Hillview
Airport. The Santa Clara County Fairgrounds are located to the
west of the freeway.
Exit
382
South
Capitol Expwy is part of the county's expressway system. It begins
at Hwy 87 and loops east and north into east San Jose. Yerba Buena
Road is the northern most exit for the Evergreen district of southeast
San Jose.
Exit
380
South
Hellyer Avenue is another road that provides access to the Evergreen
district and more established neighborhoods of south San Jose.
Exit
378
South
Blossom Hill Road is a major east-west road that connects south
San Jose to Los Gatos. Silver Creek Valley Road is the last exit
to get to the Evergreen district of south San Jose.
Exit
377B
South
Highway 85/West Valley Freeway provides an alternative to U.S.
101 avoiding downtown San Jose. When this highway was built, one
of the conditions was no trucks over 4.5 tons are allowed on Hwy
85 from U.S. 101 to Stevens Creek Blvd (Exit 18) in Cupertino.
Exit
377A
South
Bernal Road serves the residential areas of extreme south San
Jose. Although not signed, Silicon Valley Blvd provides access
to companies that make their home along Silicon Valley Blvd.
Exit
377B
South
This exit was built because new business and residential developments
were planned for the Coyote Valley. Due to the souring economy,
these developments have been put on hold.
Exit
371
South
This exit used to be Scheller Road before the Coyote Creek Golf
Club was built. The golf course was designed by Jack Nicklaus.
This is also the access road to a dump located in the hills above
the freeway.
Exit
367
South
Cochrane Road was the first exit to be signed with an exit number
in the S.F. Bay Area. Unlike the northbound exit, the southbound
overhead sign was replaced as part of the U.S. 101 widening project.
Exit
366
South
East Dunne Avenue is the first of two exits to downtown Morgan
Hill.
Exit
365
South
Tennant Avenue is the second of two Morgan Hill exits.
Exit
362
South
San Martin Avenue is the exit for the South County Airport which
is a municipal airport used by small planes. It is one of three
small airports located in Santa Clara County. Mineta San Jose handles
all commerical air traffic.
Exit
360
South
Masten Avenue provides freeway access for the relatively undeveloped
area between Gilroy and Morgan Hill.
Exit
357
South
Westbound Highway 152 goes over Hecker Pass on its way to Watsonville.
Gilroy Gardens (formerly Bonfante Gardens) theme park and the Gilroy
Outlet Center is also accessible from this exit.
Exit
356
South
Highway 152 east is known as Pacheco Pass Highway and is the only
convenient route from Silicon Valley to Interstate 5 in the Central
Valley. On holiday weekends, traffic on this road can be very heavy
resulting in lengthy delays.
Exit
355
South
Monterey Street was the old U.S. 101 before the freeway was built.
This road connected Gilroy to downtown San Jose.
Exit
353
South
Highway 25 is a primary commuter route for residents of Hollister
who have jobs in Silicon Valley. Improvements were made to reduce
the collision and fatality rates on Hwy 25 and plans are in the
works to upgrade it to a 4-lane divided highway but construction
could be years away.
After this exit, U.S. 101 crosses into
San Benito County and heads to San Juan Bautista and Salinas.
