Interchange upgrade
The in Los Gatos were presented by representatives from the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) during a special meeting on Sept. 15.
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The interchange between Highway 9, also known as Los Gatos-Saratoga Road, and Highway 17 south toward Santa Cruz is known for being a notoriously congested area, especially when weekend beach traffic and high temperature days contribute to backups and spillover traffic cutting through Los Gatos. The existing interchange is a cloverleaf, which creates a bottleneck due to short weaving distances between successive loop on- and off-ramps. There are also insufficient facilities for bicycles and pedestrians.
The stakeholders in the project are Caltrans, VTA and Los Gatos. Speakers at the meeting said the cloverleaf interchange would be replaced with a spread diamond interchange as part of a project that would include additional lanes, signals and ramp metering and a new, realigned six-lane structure. The goal of the project is to reduce congestion and improve mainline traffic operations on Highway 17, reduce traffic cutting through Los Gatos, and improve bicycle and pedestrian mobility and connectivity across Highway 17. The project also includes a new connection to the Los Gatos Creek Trail.
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The project’s environmental impact report is nearing completion, according to the presentation.
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