Q Could you speculate what highways 85, 101 and 237 would be like if Mountain View and Google add 5,000 new houses along 101? My crystal ball says gridlock.
Donna Clarke
Mountain View
A Gridlock there and …
Q There is a large apartment complex being built at Lawrence Expressway and 237. What are the plans for easing traffic at this intersection?
Prashanth N.
Milpitas
A And …
Q I take Saratoga Avenue to south 280 and the backup is getting worse. Even on a Saturday, it extends to Kiely Boulevard. With the huge apartment complexes being built along Central Park, and the proposed complex on Saratoga off Stevens Creek, gridlock will occur to the 280 entrance.
Alfred Jan
Santa Clara
A Well …
Q With 1,000-plus residential units planned for a three- to four-block area close to Santana Row, what is the plan regarding additional traffic and parking?
Dawn Satariano
San Jose
A Limited. Now swing over to the Eastside …
Q With Berryessa Road getting widened to three lanes, and all the new homes being built on or just off Berryessa, I expect traffic in the area will simply explode. It has already started taking 10-plus minutes to turn onto Commercial Street some days.
Sidharth Thakur
San Jose
A OK, folks, brace yourself. According to growth projections, over the next 25 years the population of Santa Clara County will rise by about a third, from 1.8 million to 2.4 million residents. And the number of miles we drive will increase a staggering 28 percent, from 37 million to more than 47 million miles.
Few improvements are coming soon, mostly adding turning lanes and widening intersections such as Commercial. But here is what we can expect by 2040 besides a sea of red brake lights:
BART to downtown San Jose, overpasses on the Caltrain route, carpool lanes turned into express lanes, double carpool lanes on 85 and 101, extended carpool lanes on 237 and 101, more express buses, a widened Lawrence with overpasses, a widened Montague, more bike lanes and an interchange at 101/Mabury. And self-driving cars may reduce crashes, which cause so many delays.
Q Forty years ago I was driving the 101 and traffic was bad. Thirty years ago I was listening to John McLeod at KLIV and traffic was still bad. Twenty years ago Roadshow came along and traffic still is terrible.
The only thing that has not changed is that both of you are telling me how bad traffic is. My prediction 40 years from now? Bad. Although by then I may not be worrying about it too much!
Dennis Cole
San Martin
A Me neither.
Mr. Roadshow is recovering from surgery but welcomes your email while he recuperates. Contact Gary Richards at [email protected], but please be patient for a response.
