California State Route 87
Encyclopedia
State Route 87 locally called Highway 87 or the Guadalupe Freeway, is a north–south state highway
entirely within San Jose, California
, United States
. Its name was changed from Guadalupe Parkway (although signs still refer to it as the Guadalupe Parkway) in 2004 after its entire constructed length was upgraded to a freeway. Its southern terminus is at State Route 85 (West Valley Freeway); its northern terminus is at U.S. Route 101 (Bayshore Freeway
), just north of San José International Airport
. The highway intersects with Interstate 280
(Junipero Serra Freeway) in downtown San José. Unusually, it crosses above Interstate 880(Nimitz Freeway) without an interchange
. For most of its length, especially in downtown, the highway follows the course of the Guadalupe River
.
.
A Guadalupe Parkway connection between Downtown San Jose and the present day US 101 had existed since the early 1960s; the road channeled traffic between the Bayshore Freeway and ramps that connected directly to Market Street. However, construction on a freeway over the same path and southward beyond Downtown began a decade later and stretched across 30 years.
The first stage of the Highway 87 freeway, its 4-level interchange with I-280, replaced an old downtown neighborhood in the early 1970s. A ramp to Julian Street, north of the interchange with I-280, was completed in the mid-1970s. The freeway extension north to Taylor Street was completed in the 1980s. The southern part, from I-280 to Highway 85, was opened to Almaden Expressway in 1992 and to Highway 85 in 1993, built in conjunction with the construction of a light rail line. At Highway 87's northern terminus, its 3-level interchange with Highway 101 and North First Street was completed in 1992. Finally, with all grade-level intersections replaced by grade separations, construction of the six-lane freeway between Taylor Street and the Highway 101/North First interchange was completed in 2004, with the final ramps at the Skyport interchange opening in 2005. The widening of the southern segment, from Taylor Street to Highway 85, to six lanes was completed in 2007.
The right-of-way for Highway 87 south of Interstate 280 includes two tracks for the Guadalupe line
of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority light rail system. Stations are accessible from the streets via staircases and elevators. Beyond 87's terminus, the line continues southeastward in the median of Route 85.
as the Bayfront Freeway to San Francisco. This would have provided an eastern bypass to U.S. Highway 101 along the Peninsula
(Highway 101 itself being originally a bypass to El Camino Real
along the Peninsula). The route would have ended at Highway 480
(the Embarcadero Freeway) practically underneath the Bay Bridge
, and it would also have connected to the approaches to the unconstructed San Francisco Bay Southern Crossing. Along with Route 61
, a similar project on the eastern shore of the Bay, this portion of Route 87 was abandoned due to local opposition to the project that would have destroyed a nearly pristine wildlife habitat.
The entire route is in San Jose
, Santa Clara County
.
{| class=wikitable
!Postmile
!Exit
!Destinations
!Notes
|-
|0.00
|1
|
|Southbound exit and northbound entrance; signed as exits 1A (south) and 1B (north)
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|0.00
|1C
|Santa Teresa Boulevard
|Southbound exit and northbound entrance
|-
|1.34
|1D
|Capitol Expressway Auto Mall (CR G21)
|Signed as exit 1 northbound
|-
|2.83
|3A
|Curtner Avenue
|Signed as exit 3 northbound
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|3.56
|3B
|Almaden Expressway (CR G8)
|Southbound exit and northbound entrance
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|4.35
|4
|Alma Avenue
|Southbound exit and northbound entrance
|-
|5.16
|5
|
|
|-
|5.45
|6A
|
|Signed as exit 6 northbound
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|
|6
|Santa Clara Street
|Northbound exit only
|-
|6.10
|6B
|Julian Street, St. James Street
|Signed as exit 6 northbound
|-
|6.86
|7
|Taylor Street
|
|-
|8.25
|8
|Skyport Drive – Mineta San Jose International Airport
|
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|9.08
|9A
|North First Street
|Northbound exit and southbound entrance
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|9.22
|9B
|
|Northbound exit and southbound entrance
and Los Gatos Creek Trail
.
State highway
State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...
entirely within San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Its name was changed from Guadalupe Parkway (although signs still refer to it as the Guadalupe Parkway) in 2004 after its entire constructed length was upgraded to a freeway. Its southern terminus is at State Route 85 (West Valley Freeway); its northern terminus is at U.S. Route 101 (Bayshore Freeway
Bayshore Freeway
The Bayshore Freeway is a part of U.S. Route 101 in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. It runs along the west shore of the San Francisco Bay, connecting San Jose with San Francisco. Within the city of San Francisco, the freeway is also known as James Lick Freeway...
), just north of San José International Airport
San Jose International Airport
Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport is a city-owned public-use airport serving the city of San Jose in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is named for San Jose native Norman Yoshio Mineta, who was Transportation Secretary in the Cabinet of George W...
. The highway intersects with Interstate 280
Interstate 280 (California)
Interstate 280 is a 57-mile long north–south Interstate Highway in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It connects San Jose and San Francisco, running along just to the west of the cities of San Francisco Peninsula for most of its route.I-280 from its northern end at King...
(Junipero Serra Freeway) in downtown San José. Unusually, it crosses above Interstate 880(Nimitz Freeway) without an interchange
Interchange (road)
In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which...
. For most of its length, especially in downtown, the highway follows the course of the Guadalupe River
Guadalupe River (California)
The Guadalupe River is a short river in California whose headwater creeks originate in the Santa Cruz Mountains near the summit of Loma Prieta and Mount Umunhum. The river mainstem now begins on the Santa Clara Valley floor at the northern end of Lake Almaden, which is fed by Los Alamitos Creek and...
.
Route description
This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway SystemCalifornia Freeway and Expressway System
The California Freeway and Expressway System is a system of existing or planned freeways and expressways in the U.S. state of California. It is defined by the Streets and Highways Code.-List of roads in the system:*State Route 1 *State Route 2...
.
A Guadalupe Parkway connection between Downtown San Jose and the present day US 101 had existed since the early 1960s; the road channeled traffic between the Bayshore Freeway and ramps that connected directly to Market Street. However, construction on a freeway over the same path and southward beyond Downtown began a decade later and stretched across 30 years.
The first stage of the Highway 87 freeway, its 4-level interchange with I-280, replaced an old downtown neighborhood in the early 1970s. A ramp to Julian Street, north of the interchange with I-280, was completed in the mid-1970s. The freeway extension north to Taylor Street was completed in the 1980s. The southern part, from I-280 to Highway 85, was opened to Almaden Expressway in 1992 and to Highway 85 in 1993, built in conjunction with the construction of a light rail line. At Highway 87's northern terminus, its 3-level interchange with Highway 101 and North First Street was completed in 1992. Finally, with all grade-level intersections replaced by grade separations, construction of the six-lane freeway between Taylor Street and the Highway 101/North First interchange was completed in 2004, with the final ramps at the Skyport interchange opening in 2005. The widening of the southern segment, from Taylor Street to Highway 85, to six lanes was completed in 2007.
The right-of-way for Highway 87 south of Interstate 280 includes two tracks for the Guadalupe line
Alum Rock - Santa Teresa (VTA)
Alum Rock–Santa Teresa is a light rail route operated by Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority . The Alum Rock–Santa Teresa route is one of three existing VTA light rail routes. The other two light rail routes are the Mountain View–Winchester line and the Ohlone/Chynoweth–Almaden line...
of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority light rail system. Stations are accessible from the streets via staircases and elevators. Beyond 87's terminus, the line continues southeastward in the median of Route 85.
History
Highway 87, as defined legislatively, would have extended from its current northern terminus, skirting the edge of San Francisco BaySan Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
as the Bayfront Freeway to San Francisco. This would have provided an eastern bypass to U.S. Highway 101 along the Peninsula
San Francisco Peninsula
The San Francisco Peninsula is a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area that separates the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. On its northern tip is the City and County of San Francisco. Its southern base is in Santa Clara County, including the cities of Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Mountain...
(Highway 101 itself being originally a bypass to El Camino Real
El Camino Real (California)
El Camino Real and sometimes associated with Calle Real usually refers to the 600-mile California Mission Trail, connecting the former Alta California's 21 missions , 4 presidios, and several pueblos, stretching from Mission San Diego de Alcalá in San Diego...
along the Peninsula). The route would have ended at Highway 480
California State Route 480
State Route 480 was a state highway in San Francisco, California, United States, consisting of the elevated double-decker Embarcadero Freeway , the partly elevated Doyle Drive approach to the Golden Gate Bridge and the proposed and unbuilt section in between. The unbuilt section from Doyle Drive to...
(the Embarcadero Freeway) practically underneath the Bay Bridge
San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge
The San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge is a pair of bridges spanning San Francisco Bay of California, in the United States. Forming part of Interstate 80 and of the direct road route between San Francisco and Oakland, it carries approximately 270,000 vehicles per day on its two decks...
, and it would also have connected to the approaches to the unconstructed San Francisco Bay Southern Crossing. Along with Route 61
California State Route 61
State Route 61 is a California, United States, highway which runs through Alameda and along the Oakland International Airport. The western terminus is with State Route 260 at Webster Street in Alameda, and it runs along east Central Avenue and Encinal Avenue until reaching Broadway...
, a similar project on the eastern shore of the Bay, this portion of Route 87 was abandoned due to local opposition to the project that would have destroyed a nearly pristine wildlife habitat.
Exit list
- Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment as it existed at that time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage.
The entire route is in San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County is a county located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,781,642. The county seat is San Jose. The highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley...
.
{| class=wikitable
!Postmile
!Exit
Exit number
An exit number is a number assigned to a road junction, usually an exit from a freeway. It is usually marked on the same sign as the destinations of the exit, as well as a sign in the gore....
!Destinations
!Notes
|-
|0.00
|1
|
|Southbound exit and northbound entrance; signed as exits 1A (south) and 1B (north)
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|0.00
|1C
|Santa Teresa Boulevard
|Southbound exit and northbound entrance
|-
|1.34
|1D
|Capitol Expressway Auto Mall (CR G21)
|Signed as exit 1 northbound
|-
|2.83
|3A
|Curtner Avenue
|Signed as exit 3 northbound
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|3.56
|3B
|Almaden Expressway (CR G8)
|Southbound exit and northbound entrance
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|4.35
|4
|Alma Avenue
|Southbound exit and northbound entrance
|-
|5.16
|5
|
|
|-
|5.45
|6A
|
|Signed as exit 6 northbound
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|
|6
|Santa Clara Street
|Northbound exit only
|-
|6.10
|6B
|Julian Street, St. James Street
|Signed as exit 6 northbound
|-
|6.86
|7
|Taylor Street
|
|-
|8.25
|8
|Skyport Drive – Mineta San Jose International Airport
|
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|9.08
|9A
|North First Street
|Northbound exit and southbound entrance
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|9.22
|9B
|
|Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Highway 87 Bikeway
The Highway 87 Bikeway is a 4.1 miles (6.6 km) long pedestrian and bicycle path that runs alongside portions of Highway 87. The path was constructed by Caltrans as part of the final phase of the State Route 87 project. It opened to the public on September 1, 1993. The north end of this path is at Willow Street (north of the Alma Street exit). The south end is at the 87-85 interchange. Along this route, the path runs along the east side of the freeway. The path diverges from the freeway for 0.7 miles (1.1 km) near Curtner Avenue and again for 1.1 miles (1.8 km) near Capitol Expressway, running along city streets near the highway. This path provides connections for other trails in the area, including the Guadalupe River TrailGuadalupe River Trail
The Guadalupe River Trail is an pedestrian and bicycle path in the city of San Jose, California. The path runs along the banks of the Guadalupe River. The trail is currently composed of two discontinuous segments...
and Los Gatos Creek Trail
Los Gatos Creek Trail
The Los Gatos Creek Trail is a 9.7-mile pedestrian and bicycle trail that runs through western Santa Clara County in California, from Lexington Reservoir in Los Gatos, California through Campbell, California to Meridian Avenue in San Jose, California alongside Los Gatos Creek...
.
External links
- Caltrans: Route 87 road conditions
- Eric Buchanan's Highway Photo Page: 87 Guadalupe Parkway (project history and historical images)