U.S. 101 - Bayshore Freeway/South Valley Freeway

U.S. 101 is major north-south highway that spans the three Pacific coast states, Oregon, Washington and California. U.S. 101 north starts at Interstate 5 in downtown Los Angeles and ends at Interstate 5 in Olympia, Washington after circling the Olympic Peninsula. U.S. 101 is mostly freeway or expressway through California but narrows to 2 lanes in Oregon and Washington.

As U.S. 101 enters Santa Clara County, it's a 4-lane expressway but quickly becomes a freeway outside of Gilroy. It 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 388A
North

13th Street passes through a mostly industrial area north of downtown San Jose. Oakland Road heads north to Milpitas.

Exit 388B
North

Interstate 880 northbound links San Jose to Oakland via Fremont, Hayward and San Leandro.

Exit 388C
North

Heading south, Interstate 880 becomes State Route 17 at Interstate 280. This highway links San Jose to Santa Cruz.

Exit 389A
North

As the name suggests, this IS the old Bayshore Highway before the freeway was built. This short ramp only allows motorists to turn right onto Old Bayshore and head back towards Interstate 880.

Exit 389B
North

First Street connects downtown San Jose to the commercial region of north San Jose where a number of tech companies have located. A VTA light rail line runs in the medial of First Street.

Brokaw Road becomes an access road into the Mineta San Jose International Airport.

Exit 391
North

De La Cruz Blvd heads back west into Santa Clara and around the west side of the airport. Trimble Road heads east into north San Jose.

This exit was moved from after the Hwy 87 merge to before it to improve traffic flow and reduce criss-crossing traffic.

Exit 392
North

San Tomas and Montague are both part of the county's expressway system. Montague serves the corporate campuses located in north San Jose and heads all to way to Interstate 680 in Milpitas. San Tomas passes through Santa Clara, San Jose and Campbell before ending at Hwy 17.

Exit 393
North

As the sign suggests, this is the exit for the Great America theme park where some rides are visible from the freeway. Bowers Avenue heads south into the residential areas of Santa Clara.

There is talk of building a new stadium for the San Francisco 49ers and if that is built, this will become a major access point for the stadium.

Exit 394
North

Lawrence Expwy is also part of the county's expressway system. Lawrence passes through mostly residential areas of Santa Clara and San Jose. North of the Caltrain tracks, Lawrence is lined with tech companies.

Exit 395
North

Fair Oaks Avenue passes through north Sunnyvale's residential neighborhoods until crossing Hwy 237 where is enters a more industrial area home to many business parks.

Exit 396A
North

Because there is no direct connector to get to Hwy 237 eastbound, use the Mathilda Avenue onramp to east Hwy 237. The ramp is located leann than 1/4 mile from this interchange.

Exit 396B
North

Mathilda Avenue is the main north-south road through Sunnyvale. Sunnyvale's shopping district and downtown Sunnyvale are located Mathilda Avenue.

Exit 396C
North

Contrary to what the sign says, Hwy 237 is a freeway. The Mountain View-Alviso Road has been incorporated into the current freeway.

Use this exit to get to southbound Highway 85/Stevens Creek Freeway.

Exit 397
North

Ellis Street is an auxillary entrance into Moffett Federal Airfield. This entrance is only open during the week for limited hours.

Exit 398
North

This is the exit for the Moffett Field main entrance and for the NASA/AMES complex. Moffett Blvd connects the airfield to downtown Mountain View. This sign was installed as part of the now-complete 85/101 interchange reconstruction project.

Exit 399A
North

Shoreline Blvd is the first U.S. 101 exit for the Shoreline Amphitheater. With the reconstruction of the 85/101 interchange, this exit was moved from after the Hwy 85 merge to before the merge.

Exit 399B
North

Old Middlefield Way now is a dedicated exit that runs through northern Mountain View. Old Middlefield used to share the same exit as Shoreline before the 85/101 interchange was rebuilt.

Exit 400A
North

This is the second exit to get to the Shoreline Amphitheater. The northern section of Rengstorff Ave was renamed Amphitheater Pkwy after the Shoreline Amphitheater was built. Google's main campus is located near the amphitheater.

Exit 400B
North

Rengstorff Avenue serves the residential and retail areas of north Mountain View.

Exit 400C
North

San Antonio Road is a major street into downtown Los Altos. It also passes through parts of Palo Alto and Mountain View.

This sign replaced one of the few remaining signs that had a green U.S. 101 shield outlined in white.

Exit 402
North

Oregon Expwy is the odd-ball in the expressway system because it's only 4 lanes wide and has a 35 MPH speed limit. All the other expressways have 45-50 MPH limits and, in general, 6-8 lanes wide.

At this point, U.S. 101 leaves Santa Clara County and enters San Mateo County on its way to San Mateo, San Bruno and San Francisco.