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 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.