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.
