California State Route 82

State Route 82 (SR 82) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from Interstate 880 (I-880) in San Jose to I-280 in San Francisco following the San Francisco Peninsula. It is the spinal arterial road of the peninsula and runs parallel to the nearby Caltrain line along much of the route. For much of its length, the highway is named El Camino Real and formed part of the historic El Camino Real mission trail. The present-day routing became part of U.S. Route 101 (US 101) in 1926 before the completion of the Bayshore Freeway in 1937. The state then switched the US 101 and "Bypass (BYP) US 101" designations back and forth between El Camino Real and the Bayshore Freeway before deciding in 1964 to instead designate El Camino Real as SR 82.

SR 82 passes through and near the historic downtowns of many Peninsula cities, including Burlingame, San Mateo, Redwood City, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, and Santa Clara, and through some of the most walkable and transit-oriented neighborhoods in the region.

Though signs and maps may continue to mark SR 82 as running further south from I-280 to US 101 in South San Jose, control of this segment of the highway was relinquished to the city in 2013 and is thus no longer officially part of the state highway system.

Route description

Route 82 is defined in section 382, subdivision (a), of the California Streets and Highways Code, and that the highway is "from Route 880 in San Jose to Route 280 in San Francisco". Control of the former southern segment of US 101 in San Jose was relinquished by the state to the city, and subdivision (b) further mandates that the city must still "maintain within its jurisdiction signs directing motorists to the continuation of Route 82", and the segment is still eligible to be considered as a state business route.

At its south end SR 82 starts as The Alameda at I-880 in San Jose. Once it enters Santa Clara, it bends north-east around Santa Clara University and onto El Camino Real, where it continues for the remainder of its trip up the San Francisco Peninsula, paralleling the Caltrain corridor. SR 82, generally called "El Camino" by local residents, runs through a number of cities on the Peninsula, including Palo Alto (passing by Stanford University), San Carlos, San Mateo, Burlingame, and Millbrae, and it is a central artery of the Peninsula communities through which it passes.

In Daly City, SR 82 becomes Mission Street, connecting with San Francisco's Mission Street, but then quickly flows onto San Jose Avenue, crossing Alemany Boulevard, and terminating at I-280.

SR 82 takes an inland course paralleling US 101 (Bayshore Freeway). The entire route is at street level with at least four lanes of traffic; no portions of it exist as a freeway, although the route is occasionally a divided highway. US 101 and I-280 tend to provide faster alternatives than Route 82 even during traffic jams on those freeways.

SR 82 is part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration.

History

Originally a segment of US 101 (and before that, the historic El Camino Real), the highway became completely inadequate for the needs of traffic with the rapid growth of the San Francisco Bay Area after World War II, including urbanization of the towns along its path. The Bayshore Highway to the east was originally built as "Bypass (BYP) US 101" and was upgraded to a freeway in 1937. With this upgrade, the original US 101 route was transferred to the Bayshore Freeway, and El Camino Real became US 101 BYP, but in response to protests, the switch in designations was reversed two years later, in 1939, and the Bayshore Freeway remained US 101 BYP until 1964.Oakland Tribune, October 1, 1939: "The Pacheco Pass road, a good connection between coast and inland routes, is reached over pavement via U.S. 101 or U.S. 101 Bypass to San Jose..."

In 1964, US 101 was moved again onto the Bayshore Freeway, and its former alignment on El Camino Real became SR 82. It was defined as two portions: From Route (US) 101 near Ford Road south of San Jose to Route (US) 101 in San Francisco (which today corresponds to the Alemany Maze), and from Route (US) 101 near Alemany Boulevard to Route (SR) 87 (current unconstructed SR 230) in San Francisco. Due to SR 87 being unconstructed in San Francisco as defined, SR 82 was extended north along Alemany Boulevard to Bayshore Boulevard. In 1968, the portions from I-280 (at current SR 82) north to US 101 and from SR 101 to SR 87 were legally transferred to I-280. SR 87 was then deleted north of SR 237 in 1980, and is only constructed south of US 101, and SR 82 today is designated as part of El Camino Real.

To connect to "Route 101 near Ford Road south of San Jose" as previously defined in 1964, SR 82 continued south past present-day-I-880 on The Alameda, becoming Santa Clara Street in Downtown San Jose, then turning south on Montgomery Street (southbound) / Autumn Street (northbound, now Barack Obama Boulevard); then it turned east on San Carlos Street and south on Market Street, which becomes First Street and then Monterey Road (or Monterey Highway). It then followed Monterey Road until it turned east briefly on Blossom Hill Road, where it ended at US 101. In 2013, control of SR 82 south of I-880 was relinquished to the City of San Jose. While certain SR 82 signs may have been removed along US 101 near Blossom Hill Road and Capitol Expressway, other SR 82 signs may still stand along I-280 and SR 87 where the relinquished segment intersects.

Grand Boulevard Initiative The Grand Boulevard Initiative is a partnership of nineteen Bay Area transit agencies and municipalities that operate or manage various portions of the route. Although El Camino Real is ultimately under the stewardship of Caltrans, the organization nevertheless sponsors aesthetic and infrastructural improvements along the corridor and its neighboring parcels in order to revitalize the streetscape and promote density and more walkable and transit-oriented development.

Major intersections

California State Route 82

Bron en licentie