Ongoing Bay Area Road Projects
Ongoing Bay Area Road Projects Completed Bay Area Road Projects Using BART/CalTrain Using FasTrak Great Sites And More
The BART To Silicon Valley Extension Project
MISSION: Bay Area Rapid Transit makes travel easier for thousands upon thousands of riders in San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties—but past efforts to expand to Santa Clara county failed...until now. In 2011, work began on an extension from Fremont into San Jose that is scheduled to wrap in 2017-18, depending on the source.
Long-term plans call for the route to loop all the way through downtown San Jose into Santa Clara; funding currently isn't available and won't be until at least a couple more years (as of 2015).
Funding permitted, BART tentatively hopes to complete the latter extension phase by 2025.
Obviously, changes must be made to accommodate the new railway, which will run along existing railroad tracks (mostly Union Pacific) for the majority of its route.
From the existing southern terminus at Fremont Station moving southward, new stations are being added at:
-
Warm Springs (off Warm Springs Blvd just south of Grimmer in Fremont)
-
Milpitas (Montague Expressway & Capitol Avenue at Milpitas/San Jose edge), and
-
Berryessa (near the intersection of Berryessa and King/Lundy in San Jose).
Phase II planned stations include:
-
Alum Rock (elevated near Santa Clara St/Alum Rock Avenue overpass at US-101 in San Jose)
-
San Jose Downtown (near the intersection of Santa Clara/Market Streets in San Jose, via subway under Santa Clara Street) and
-
Santa Clara (at the existing CalTrain station across El Camino from Santa Clara University).
Existing roads requiring modification for this project:
-
Warren Avenue, Fremont (underpass built)
-
Kato Avenue, Fremont (underpass built)
-
Dixon Landing Road, Fremont (underpass built)
-
Montague Expressway, San Jose (trench under road built)
-
Trade Zone Boulevard, San Jose (trench under road built)
-
Sierra Road/Lundy Avenue intersection, San Jose (tunnel built underneath intersection)
-
Hostetter Road, San Jose (trench under road being built)
Several roads in the path of BART already have grade separations in place for the UPRR, such as Jacklin Road and Calaveras Boulevard in Milpitas. Obviously, no modifications will be required on such roads. Washington Avenue and Paseo Padre Parkway in Fremont were reconfigured as underpasses in anticipation of a Warm Springs BART extension back in 2010.
Long-awaited update: Phase I of this project, which includes the opening of the Milpitas and Berryessa Stations, is expected to be completed in Spring 2020. Construction of the BART extension into downtown San Jose (aka Phase II of the project) began in early 2019, but only a small portion of it—complete funds still are not available, and there's no definitive timeline on Phase II's completion.
Click here for photos of the Kato Road (Fremont) underpass construction. Click here for photos of the Warren Avenue (Fremont) underpass construction.
The Mathilda Monster (Sunnyvale) Modification Project
MISSION: Proceeding north on Mathilda Avenue north of US-101 in Sunnyvale could be, well, challenging. Mostly because two thru lanes of traffic needed to navigate four consecutive traffic signals very close to one another in a bustling part of the city. What this project does is eliminate one of the four signals and add an extra thru lane.
The first signal is at Ross Avenue, the second is for EB 237 traffic, the third is for WB 237 traffic, and the fourth is for Moffett Park Drive. What this project will do is terminate the east end of Moffett Park Drive at Bordeaux Drive, and re-route the WB 237 exit ramp where MPD used to be This will create one fewer signaled intersection on Mathilda. Additionally, the on/off ramps at US-101 and Mathilda will be modified, with new signals added.
Work began in 2019 and should complete in 2020.
An overview of the work being done to the Mathilda Monster. Moffett Park Drive and the WB 237 exit ramp are being rerouted, cutting the Monster's signaled intersections from four to three.
The alignment of Moffett Park Drive (left) and the WB 237 exit ramp (right) circa 2019.
2020: The WB 237 exit ramp has been shifted to where Moffett Park Drive used to run, eliminating an entire signaled intersection.
An overview of the work being done to the Mathilda Monster. Moffett Park Drive and the WB 237 exit ramp are being rerouted, cutting the Monster's signaled intersections from four to three.
The 680/80/12 (Fairfield) Realignment Project
MISSION: With the truck scales just north of this interchange relocated to just south of the 680/12 interchange, focus turns to cleaning up a confusing, winding set of access roads around the 680/80 junction as well as shoring up existing ramps.
Among the issues: the two-lane area overpass—Green Valley Road—lacks sidewalks and bike lanes, and is plain ugly. Replacement of this bridge takes place in the first of what is a seven-phase project. (Unfortunately, as of October 2015, phases 2-7 are unfunded.)
Additionally, Phase I includes an overhaul of the 80W to 12W on-ramp. Later phases call for construction of a Red Top Road interchange with I-680, improvements to the 680 connectors to/from I-80, and an extension of Business Center Drive to form a four-way intersection with Red Top Road and Highway 12—all of which remain unfunded at the moment.
August 2016 update: the old overpass has been demolished; the new overpass is in use but still incomplete and using temporary signals. Photos to come in the next few days.
Note: an earlier edition of this page reported improved routing to I-80W from Suisun Valley Road as part of the upcoming phases. While those plans call for Neitzel Road—currently part of the 80W-from-SVR route—to be eliminated, it is unclear if traffic from SVR to 80W would follow a new, improved route, or a route similar to the existing one.
For more on this project, click here.
Here is an overview of all seven phases of the project, which calls for I-680 to eventually meet SR-12 at I-80.
Here is the new Green Valley Road overpass under construction. You're viewing it from the eastern side of I-80.
Here are the two overpasses side-by-side, obviously with the old bridge on the left.
Here is an overview of all seven phases of the project, which calls for I-680 to eventually meet SR-12 at I-80.
The US-101/SR-84 (Redwood City) Interchange Modification Project
MISSION: To alleviate congestion at the US-101/SR-84/Veterans Blvd./Broadway intersections in Redwood City.
For more on this project, click here.
The De La Cruz Blvd./Trimble Road/US-101 (San Jose) Ramp Improvement Project
MISSION: To improve the on/off ramps to De La Cruz Blvd./Trimble Road off US-101 in San Jose.
For more on this project, click here.
The Charcot Avenue/I-880 (San Jose) Overpass Project
MISSION: To add a bridge over I-880 at Charcot Avenue in San Jose and relieve congestion on existing nearby bridges.
For more on this project, click here.