County Route G8 (California)
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| County Route G8 |
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| Almaden Expressway Maintained by Santa Clara County Expressway System |
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| Length: | 29.4 mi (47 km) | ||||||||||||
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| Formed: | 1962 | ||||||||||||
| South end: |  SR 152 in Gilroy |
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| Major junctions: |
 CR G10 in Gilroy SR 85 in San Jose CR G21 in San Jose SR 87 in San Jose |
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| North end: | Alma Avenue in San Jose | ||||||||||||
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County Route G8 is an important north-south arterial from the south valley area of Santa Clara County, California, USA to near Downtown San Jose. G8 runs for 29.4 miles (47 km) over both rural roads, expressway and urban streets, but it is most commonly known by residents for its expressway portion, Almaden Expressway. G8 is also part of the Santa Clara County Expressway System.
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[edit] Route description
G8 begins in the south at the its junction with State Route 152 in Gilroy. It proceeds north along Watsonville Road as a two-lane country road until it reaches the intersection of Watsonville Rd and Uvas Road. G8 turns left and proceeds north along Uvas Road which is a winding two-lane mountain road that passes by Uvas, Chesbro and Calero reservoirs and their surrounding parks. In Calero Resevoir County Park, Uvas Road is renamed McKean Road and proceeds into the Almaden Valley area of San Jose. At the north end of McKean Rd, G8 turns briefly right on Harry Road for a short distance and then left on to the south end of Almaden Expressway.
As Almaden Expressway G8 expands to a 4-8 lane divided expressway with a large center divider and the majority of access limited to major intersections controlled by traffic signals. The major exception to this is near Highway 85 and Blossom Hill Road (G10) where there are several major shopping centers.
G8 intersects G10 at Blossom Hill Rd and SR 85 a quarter mile north. This interchange is one of the busiest in Silicon Valley due to several shopping centers and a Costco warehouse store all sharing driveways with this interchange. G8 continues north resuming its expressway design. G8 shares a separated grade interchange with the terminus of Capitol Expressway Auto Mall and again with Curtner Avenue. Other intersections along this part of the route are at grade. Almaden Expressway crosses State Route 87 with which it shares a northbound only interchange.
G8 continues past the north end of Almaden Expressway on to Almaden Road which is a 4 lane city street. At the intersection Almaden Rd and Alma Avenue, G8 turns east along Alma Ave and proceeds for about a quarter mile to its eastern terminus at First Street (SR 82).
[edit] History and legislative status
G8 was originally designated in 1962 along Almaden Expwy which had begun construction in 1959. Almaden Expwy was not completed to its southern terminus until 1984. Before that time the section between McKean Rd and the southern end of the expressway (which was further north at the time) took a zig zag path from McKean Rd to Harry Rd to Alamden Road (S) to Barnes Lane, to the then southern end of Almaden Expwy.
G8 is signed sporadically along its entire length.
[edit] Landmarks and points of interest
- Uvas Reservoir and Uvas Reservoir Park
- Chesbro Reservoir and Chesbro Reservoir Park
- Calero Reservoir and Calero Reservoir County Park
- Spartan Stadium, San Jose (just east of G8s northern terminus on Alma Ave)
