State Route 85 (SR 85) is a state highway which connects the cities of southern San Jose and Mountain View in the U.S. State of California. The highway intersects with major highways such as I-280, SR 17, and SR 87. The route serves as a bypass of U.S. Route 101 (US 101) in the Santa Clara Valley area, running through the foothill cities of Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cupertino, roughly paralleling the Santa Cruz Mountains up to its interchange with I-280.
Highway 85
The highway is officially known as West Valley Freeway along its entire length. A significant portion of the route is also signed as the Norman Y. Mineta Highway, after former San Jose Mayor, U.S. Congressman, Secretary of Commerce, and Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta.[4] Its northernmost segment between I-280 and US 101, paralleling the Stevens Creek, also is known as Stevens Creek Freeway.
This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System[6] and is part of the National Highway System,[7] a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration.[8] In 2014, SR 85 had an annual average daily traffic (AADT) of 58,000 at Bernal Road, and 129,500 at SR 87, the latter of which was the highest AADT for the highway.[9]
From 1963 to 1965, SR 85 was a 10-mile highway that entirely on surface streets from US 101 near SR 237 to I-280 along Mathilda Ave and Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road (a portion of which was later renamed De Anza Blvd) while the current freeway was being planned. The northern segment was rerouted in 1965 once the northern segment of the freeway opened. The southern segment was deleted in 1994 on the same day the remainder of the current freeway opened.
The project was the first in the state for which county residents voted to tax themselves to build a state highway. Because state funds were scarce and congestion on other freeways and on surrounding surface streets was tremendous, a slight majority of voters (56%) voted for the tax in 1984. At the time, there was considerable controversy over whether funds would be better spent on mass transit and whether a freeway through so many residential areas would destroy the quality of life. The total US$785 million cost of the freeway was mostly funded by the special tax on county residents, along with matching state and federal funds. The project proved successful enough that, since then, many other locales have used local taxes to build state projects. It was also so effective as a solution to traffic problems that, several years after it was built, a poll by the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group revealed that nearly 80% of voters claimed that they had voted for the tax.[17]
As with any freeway, ambient noise in surrounding neighborhoods increased, from a steadily annoying whisper of sound day and night to a dull roar that muted backyard conversations. Property values, however, did not diminish; it is possible that the improved commute and access to the vast California freeway network improved the desirability of these neighborhoods. The noise level, however, has continued to be an issue with some residents, particularly in Saratoga. Caltrans has floated several options from repaving with asphalt, to grinding down the current concrete surface of the highway. An experimental length of the freeway from Cox Avenue to De Anza Boulevard was ground down in 2003. This smoothed out much of the top layer of the freeway removing most of the rain grooves that had been cut in the concrete when the highway was first built. The result did lower the ambient sound levels along that stretch of the freeway, and subsequently, the entire concrete surfaced section of the freeway from Almaden Expressway to Stevens Creek Boulevard was microgrooved in a follow-up project in 2005.
I-85 begins as a T intersection off I-65 in Montgomery. From there, I-85 parallels US 80 until the highway nears Tuskegee. At Tuskegee, I-85 leaves US 80 and starts to parallel US 29, which the highway parallels for much of its length.
I-85 provides the major transportation route for the Upstate of South Carolina, linking together the major centers of Greenville and Spartanburg with regional centers of importance. In Spartanburg, BMW has a major manufacturing plant that can be seen from the highway. In South Carolina, I-85 bypasses Clemson and Anderson on the way to Greenville. Beginning at Anderson, I-85 widens from four to six lanes. Near Powdersville, US 29 joins I-85 and they run concurrently until they cross the Saluda River. I-85 bypasses just south of Greenville but provides two links into the city via spur routes I-185 and I-385.
In North Carolina, I-85 enters a relatively rural area near Kings Mountain before entering the Gastonia and Charlotte areas. In Charlotte, I-85 bypasses Charlotte Douglas International Airport and turns northeastward just before reaching Uptown Charlotte; thus, I-85 just bypasses uptown to the north where it junctions with I-77. North of Charlotte, the highway passes near Concord, Salisbury, Lexington, and High Point before reaching Greensboro.
At Greensboro, I-85 shifts away from downtown I-85 Bus (old I-85 through town). I-85 then joins I-40 east of downtown, and the two highways are cosigned as they pass through Burlington, Graham, and Mebane then separate near Hillsborough where I-40 turns toward Chapel Hill, Cary, and Raleigh. After the split with I-40, I-85 continues to Durham, before turning northeastward through Oxford then Henderson toward Virginia.
Starting from the Virginia border, the route passes South Hill and McKenney before heading into a large forest. After the forest, I-85 reaches Petersburg and ends at I-95. The highway is briefly cosigned with US 460 from a few miles west of Petersburg in Dinwiddie County to I-95. I-85 follows the same general path as US 1 (Boydton Plank Road and Jefferson Davis Highway), as the two cross several times between the North Carolina border and the northern terminus outside Petersburg.
The highway passes through Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, and North Dakota. From Las Cruces, New Mexico to Fountain, Colorado, US-85 shares its alignment with I-25 and is not signed.
The original route of US 85 in Texas had the highway concurrent with Doniphan Drive (after Paisano Drive), and parallelling the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway through the Mesilla Valley communities of Canutillo, Vinton and Anthony before crossing the Texas/New Mexico state line in Anthony, New Mexico, then following the road which is now New Mexico State Road 478 (NM 478) up the Mesilla Valley to Las Cruces. This route is marked as Texas State Highway 20 north of the intersection with Mesa Street/Country Club Drive.
US 85 enters Colorado from New Mexico concurrent with I-25 but is not signed. US 85 leaves I-25 at Exit 128 and follows Santa Fe Avenue through Fountain before turning west briefly onto Lake Avenue, then turning north following Nevada Avenue through Colorado Springs before rejoining I-25 at Exit 148. Approaching the south side of Denver, US 85 again leaves I-25 at Exit 184. From there it heads west and north as a two lane rural highway. It becomes an expressway near Chatfield Reservoir and the southern Denver suburbs of Littleton and Englewood, where it is commonly known as Santa Fe Drive. It continues north through Denver for a few miles before once again joining with I-25 at mile marker 207. There it becomes a concurrency with US 87 as well as I-25 and heads north through downtown Denver. At exit 214, US 85 turns east and becomes a concurrency with I-70 and US 6 for about a mile where it exits with U.S. 6 and heads northeast through Commerce City. In just a few miles the US 6/US 85 concurrency merges with I-76 at mile marker 9. They travel concurrently for 3 miles (4.8 km) until exit 12 when US 85 becomes an expressway and continues north out of the Denver area through Brighton. From there it parallels I-25 for about 75 miles (121 km) passing through Fort Lupton, Platteville, LaSalle, Evans, Greeley, Eaton, Ault, Pierce, and Nunn before crossing into Wyoming.
US 85 enters the Black Hills from Wyoming and travels northeast until it meets with US 14 Alternate east at Cheyenne Crossing. The two routes form a concurrency from there, along the way coming to the road which leads to Terry Peak. Upon entering to Lead, the two routes are separated, and the overlap with US 85 is replaced by a truck route. As the route US 85 and US 14 are separated until both meet again in Deadwood, but not before US 85 serves as the northern terminus of U.S. Route 385. The routes run together through Deadwood before splitting, and US 85 then runs north to meet I-90. US 85 overlaps I-90 for 8 miles (13 km) while heading west. At exit 10 on the north side of Spearfish, US 85 heads back north. At Belle Fourche it crosses state highway 34 and US 212. From there it continues to North Dakota passing only through the small towns of Redig, Buffalo (where it meets state highway 20), and Ludlow, as well as coming to the Geographic Center of the United States.
CVC Section 35722. Prior to the execution of freeway agreements for State Highway Route 85 in Santa Clara County, with the concurrence of each city within the highway corridor, the Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Clara may, after a public hearing, adopt a proposed ordinance imposing a maximum gross truck weight limit of 9,000 pounds on Route 85 from State Highway Route 280 in Cupertino south and east to State Highway Route 101 in San Jose, and submit the proposed ordinance to the Department of Transportation for approval. Upon approval of the proposed ordinance by the department, this weight limit shall be stipulated in the applicable freeway agreements with the local entities in the Route 85 corridor. If the proposed ordinance is approved by the department, the weight limit shall become effective upon opening of any portion of the new Route 85 freeway corridor as defined in this section, and the department shall post appropriate signs, similar to the signs on State Highway Route 580 in Oakland. Except as otherwise provided in this section, this article shall be applicable to an ordinance adopted pursuant to this section.
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