Highway 85! My favorite way to go from I-280 South to Hwy 101. A highway is for moving traffic quickly and smoothly, with less intersections or junctions along the way. Hwy 85 is actually a freeway. A highway has junctions, and a freeway has on and off ramps. Hwy 85 can get congested during the commute because everyone has the same idea. Be alert in the right lane, because there will be constant merging traffic. And of course, those drivers who wait until the last minute to merge. But OMG, at night when no one is on it ......Highway 85 is empty and a pleasure to drive on! From South San Jose to I-280 to the Stanford area, it's an easy high speed ride. One of the best and most useful roads they built in the SF Bay Area. read more

Highway 85 - View of Hwy 85 South from the connector ramp from Rt 17 - Local Flavor Near Me

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Before Hwy 85 was ever built, the only way to get around was using City street. Hwy 85 was built in two phases. First phase was built in the 1960's from Steven's Creek to Mountain View. The rest of hwy 85 was built in the second phase and opened in 1994. The construction of Hwy 85 was much needed and today serves as a major corridor for many commuters. Hwy 85 consists of three lane each direction including a carpool lane. The carpool lane does get jam packed with all the electrical vehicles. The hwy is well constructed, no potholes, or dips in the roadroad unlike hwy 87. The grooves in the roadway suppose to help with reducing road noise. Over the years, theres been talks about adding a fourth lane. Theres been alot of opposition to this due too increase in noise in the surrounding area. Even adding a fourth lane would not relieve the traffic congestion. read more

Haha yes. I found me a freeway I could write a Yelp review for! Highway 85 has its southern terminus with US101 in San Jose and ends with US101 in Mountain View. It's seen as a Southern wrap around for South San Jose :P I entered on the CA-17 intersection, coming from Santa Cruz and took it to the 280. Yes it's not much, but driving on the 85 is smooth. There wasn't any "troublesome" parts nor was there traffic at 10am on a weekday :P It also is on the Western part of Cupertino, so if you need to be in Stevens Creek..... Hwy 85 is the way to go #philz Wheee.. just drive. Speed limit is not 85 :P read more

I have a new relationship with Highway 85 and seriously, I think, I am falling in love! I haven't use this before until recently. The drive going to work is such a breeze. I rarely get stuck in traffic after 10am. I've used it around 9am as well and still the commute is not as bad like 237. Also,the road is somewhat like a skin of a newly born baby...sooo smooth! The only reason that i ain't giving it full 5 stars is because my drive here after 6pm is usually longer from Palo Alto to LG but still, it never stresses me out. Prolly because I know there's something exciting waiting for me where i am heading? teeheehee Ok. I will admit it. I love this Highway!!! I am in love with it! read more

Highway 85 - Towards North to 280 - Local Flavor Near Me

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Tl:dr highways rool, airplanes suck Here is the in depth look at my review of this freeway View: 8/10 Simple trees and stuff. At least there were no naked hobos or naked hobo orgies. Traffic: 9/10 No traffic ever! I guarantee there will never be any traffic on this road based on my limited experience and sample size of 1. Smoothness: 7.5/10 Relatively smooth. Some rough patches. Good enough to balance a cup on your roof. Good enough to accidentally forget your coffee and be able to retrieve it after your baby's cry wakes you up and saves you from accidentally swerving into another lane. Then you realize you left the coffee in the car seat and the baby on the roof. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First things first I have been in the Freeway and Highway game for longer than any of yall filthy casual Freeway hypebeasts. I am the one true #dayone fan of the US highway and freeway system. Let me tell you, da game has changed. Back in my day, true enthusiasts like me went through HELL just to get a chance to smell dat sweet sweet new road smell. We camped in the great american desert, enduring the scrotum scorching sun during the day and nights so cold even ur fat whale of a mum would say "dayum its cold af". We fought off giant poisonous man eating scorpions while defending our fallen bretheren from hungry hungry vultures. If you were tough enough to make it to opening day, you were considered a true man even if you were a woman fan of highways. This was back in da day so being a man was the highest honor any living human could attain in their lifetime. Also women didnt unlock strong and independent traits through evolution until 2008. Nowadays, people have abandoned the great highways for better, faster, and more fuel efficient modes of transportation invented by the communists. Airplane cabins secrete special communist mind control gases, and all food and drink on the aircraft is tainted with communism. This is not a widely known fact because the doses are so small and are undetectable through blood tests. The communists are playing the long con and just you wait, in a decades time, all humans will be so saturated with communism that an era of communism will emerge. The communism cells secretly embedded in all of us through years of saturation will eventually activate, turning us all into mindless, communism loving communists. The changes are already starting to show. Our blood is now red, which coincidentally is the color of communism. Please bring back American roads and American freedom. read more

Highway 85 - As a professional Highway connoisseur, I give this an overall score of 7/10. - Local Flavor Near Me

Highway 85 is a nice drive when there is no traffic. I like driving Highway 85 over 101. However, when it is rush hour traffic, Highway 85 can be a gridlock. It is a pain to drive through. At least, you do not encounter potholes along this road. read more

Highway 85 - Local Flavor Near Me

The Highway 85 has a LONG history in this valley. Planners have been debating the option of connecting deep south San Jose with the west side of the Valley for 30+ years. Seriously. I can remember my parents voting on where the off ramp should go in the Saratoga area. Well, I think it was in the late 80s when construction began and it was completed in '92 I believe. I remember riding my bike on the recently graded dirt on 85 at the Saratoga Ave off ramp when I was back from UCLA in the summer. The key with driving this highway is timing...and commute direction. Remember that thousands of people migrate north each morning...and thousands return to their south valley nests each evening. The farther south you are in San Jose, the earlier you should get on the highway in the morning. My general rule of thumb is to be at your nearest on-ramp before or no more than 5 minutes after the metering light goes on. I believe most metering lights go on at 6:30am. The bottle necks on the 85 are (from North to South) at the Almaden Expressway, Camden Ave, Saratoga Ave, De Anza Blvd and as you approach El Camino and the merge on to the 101. However, knowing this, the big tip is to get on the 85 at an on ramp other than one of the bottle necks. The closer to 7:00am that you get on to 85 the LONGER your commute will be. If you can do it, get on the 85 by no later than 6:30am and you should experience little delay as you move up north. Thousands of drivers begin their commute south on 85 at 4:00pm. If you have a high tech industry job, getting out of work at 4:00pm is a never happen...which means you will hit some traffic anytime after 4:00pm you leave your office. However, depending on how far you have to go south, leaving at 5:00pm make still result in a tolerable stop and go commute. The bottle neck areas are the same as the morning commute, but the build up at the 101 south and 85 on ramp starts up at 4:00pm...and is heavy until the 280 split. The build up from the 880 south and on to 85 South is also really bad. I typically end my day at 6:00pm...and there is NO WAY I will drive home on the 85 at that time. If you are a late guy like me, I recommend waiting until 7:00pm to leave the office...after the car pool lane opens up! You will typically get through the major bottle necks in 50% less time, will cross the 40 mph speed more frequent....and will be less likely to kick the dog when you get home. Woof. Of course, if you can find a car pool partner, most of my tips are moot. The car pool lane is vacant in most areas during the week...and it feels like you are driving north or south on Saturday...except for the 85 north and 101 freeway merge bottle neck. Ahhh....the Silicon Valley commute! read more

LOL....seriously? can't wait for the day someone reviews a freakin sidewalk. read more

This freeway is fine if you stay at or just a fraction above the speed limit (it's heavily patrolled throughout the day and I keep it at 65 or 70 to be safe) and avoid it during commute times, but there's something about this corridor that attracts a lot of dummies who want to speed, use the carpool lane when they shouldn't, and who also want to zip in and out wildly (go speed racer! GO!). Oh, and then there are the people going way too slow or who don't know how to merge onto or off of a freeway (but this is all pretty typical for the bay area). When used smartly, it can make crossing the south bay and to and from Mountain View much quicker than using side streets or some other routes. COMMUTE: This freeway was the bane of my existence when I had to use it for commute. Northbound is very congested in the morning and Southbound is very congested in the evening, so best to avoid those directions during these times. Most onramps are metered when going these respective directions and that can add a bit of time to your commute. I am sure most people know this already, but hey - it was worth mentioning just in case! ONRAMPS/OFFRAMPS: Most are very easy but a few need you to be on your toes. Onramp from 17S to 85S during the peak of the evening commute will take a while. Onramp from 85N to 17S can be a challenge since this is also the carousel for commuters from 17S onto 85 and you don't have a lot of time to switch off so monitor the traffic coming down onto 85 from 17 and time your transition. By far the ABSOLUTE WORST offramp I have encountered is 85SB to Almaden Expressway. The two lanes on the right are for Southbound Almaden Expressway (far right for turning into Costco and the shopping center), and the two lanes on the left are for Northbound Almaden Expressway. Unless you know this ahead of time, you won't know if you are in the proper lane until it is too late. Well, instead of just following the wrong direction until possible to turn around, most people just cut right across lanes (dotted lines curve through the intersection to help keep people in the proper direction) without looking (usually people in NB-headed lanes who really wanted to go SB) and in front of or nearly hitting other cars. It's a freaking NIGHTMARE. And if you honk at someone because they were wrong and nearly hit you, they freak out. It's very confusing for most people and I am shocked there aren't a lot more accidents here from people being run into by dummies. All this aside, it's fine when used to your advantage. read more

Ahhh, the good ol' 85. Lots of experiences with this freeway. This road is where I got in my very first accident, and then almost got killed again by my friend who was learning how to drive and nearly drove off the road. But you have to be really bored to have a "driving" desire to write a review for a freeway!!! (..did u get the pun?) I share a love/hate relationship with this freeway. It's great when there's no traffic, but an absolute nightmare during the rush hour. Due to some awesome scheduling of college classes on my behalf, I get to endure the PM traffic nightmare that is 85S from it's northern terminus in Mountain View, and try to battle my way to De Anza College (Stevens Creek Blvd) before my classes start at 5:30p. It's clearly a freeway that suffers from lack of lanes, lack of public transit running around the corridor, and lack of drivers with common sense, because there has never been a commute on the beloved 85 during the PM rush that hasn't left me wanting to pull my hair out. Even the carpool lane gets regularly bogged down by carpoolers, Nissan Leafs with the nifty carpool stickers, and the solo-riding De Anza students with god complexes who's late to class because Starbucks messed up his latte. POPULAR JAM SPOTS DURING THE EVENING COMMUTE: - I've seen it jam up from the very beginning, at the 101S flyover before. It's then that I tell myself "nope" and take the back roads to where I need to go. - Central Expressway to El Camino South, clearing up slightly after ECR - Just before Fremont Ave to Homestead Rd, where traffic usually resumes to 55-65mph until the I-280 approach. - Then it bogs down again at the 280S merge, where people will literally fly over 2 lanes while slamming on their brakes to get on/off Stevens Creek Blvd - Past Stevens Creek Blvd and beyond - If there's an accident of any kind, the freeway is fucked, quite honestly. Thankfully, my commute home from school is a lot more mellow, and I can appreciate the "urban-ness" of this road. Every exit there seems to be services or food. Relatively smooth, though not the quietest freeway (in terms of actual noise) in the South Bay. But no big rigs are allowed which makes visibility great on this freeway. People love to drive 75 on this road, and cops don't seem to patrol this freeway as much as 101 or 280. So if you're in a mad dash to get across San Jose, let 85 be your chariot! (Just don't think about tailgating that Silver 04 Camry with the modded tail lights) In all, very pleasant freeway to drive on if you're lucky enough to not take it during the peak hours. Definitely needs to be defaulted to 4 lanes, and maybe have a VTA express route running along the freeway too. read more

Someone actually started rating a highway. So, here I go: Highway 85, I don't even frequent you often, but when I do, I find that it's a easy ride especially since the majority of the people speed on this highway, so I feel much better when I ride 85 since I just chill and jam with my mo jo and bounce my booty and zip in my ride. As long as I keep my peepers open for them blue & white. read more

This is one of the worst damn highway in the bay area. Damn potholes everywhere, and the lane is constantly merging from 4 to 3, from 3 to 2. EVERY DAMN EXIT. I understand that during weekday rush hours, it is not great anywhere. But seriously? The carpool lane gets hogged by the special vehicles, and the right lane is constantly merging, which leaves ONE DAMN LANE to transport everyone to their work place. You just can get anywhere on this damn highway. Horrible designed, and constantly merging. do not take this during rush hours unless you want to shit your pants in your car because you are stuck in traffic. read more

Doesn't have much cars on weekends compare to other freeways Too many cops, can't over speed too much, they are hiding somewhere waiting for you to go over the limit Crazy traffic in the mornings!! Need to widen to 4 lanes!! read more

I like Highway 85. What it was like before this highway I have no idea, because it seems so essential to those living in the southern edge of the South Bay. Its usually less congested than the alternative routes, and is a cleaner, newer feeling highway. I feel safe driving on 85, glad we have it! read more

generally a good freeway, convenient as it spans from mountain view all the way down to south san jose, which gives you access to sunnyvale, cupertino, saratoga, los gatos, and various parts of san jose. during the daytime, this freeway is generally pretty good, but you always get a few slow patches here and there. during the morning rush, everyone flocks to mountain view, thanks to google, linked in, and other mv businesses, so northbound is pretty busy and very very slow. during the evening rush, everyone is headed the opposite direction, towards san jose, so southbound will be stop-and-go traffic. i try to keep my visits to the weekends, if i can, but if i have to take this on the weekday, i try to avoid being on this freeway during morning & evening rush. read more

I've never seen more police on a highway than I've seen on hwy 85. I drive this three days a week around 9:20am and the place is polluted with po-pos, speed traps, and motorcycle cops. It's a nice road and fairly vacant so it's tempting but I wouldn't recommend going more than 10 over the speedlimit at anytime. read more

Yeah highway 85 can back up way too early, but if you remember the days before it was built it took forever on the surface streets to get from one side of the county to the other. Hopefully, they will add more lanes. read more

I'm a relatively new driver who commutes on 85 every weekday. I'd say it's one of the less intimidating highways in the Bay, even during rush hour. Not too swervy. No big-rigs. Smooth roads. Bottle necks aren't even that bad compared to more active highways. read more

I hate driving on the freeway especially when there's traffic. this freeway flows very smoothly if everybody pays attention to the road. I'm driving and the man on the left of me is shaving and the girl to the right to me had her head down for several minutes so I'm not sure if she is texTing while driving or reading a book on her phone? I swear I've seen people not in traffic hours putting a long doing 20 miles under the speed limit or multitasking not posting attention which makes me late to work lol watch the road people Lol as I talk to my phone while I'm in bumper to bumper parking lot on highway 85 Monday morning in the traffic hour Happy Monday people read more

I am going to give this highway 4 stars just because I can! I can't believe you can review a highway! Well, a fine highway it is too. It has some nice concrete, no obvious pot holes, lots of cars (did I mention lots of cars); seriously, you can't even call yourself a highway unless you have cars and 85 goes above and beyond that requirement. Did I tell you that there is usually a backup around commute time. Only a decent California highway will have commute traffic and 85 provides that too and much more. In addition, there is always someone who will flip you off if you cut them off (not me) and someone who shouldn't be in the commuter lane that is driving there while watching for a man in a black and white car. The nice guys from the highway patrol try to take care of things but can't be everywhere all the time. Add a little road rage, now and again, and you have a fine California freeway! Did I mention that there is also someone always available to not let a big SUV merge? Well, that person seems to always be there. Now the trick with merging with an SUV is do what BMW drivers discovered years ago, act like an 'ahole' and don't use you blinker. Or if you want to use the blinker, just click it at the last moment. If someone sees a blinker on an SUV they will drive such that there is no way you can ever change lanes or merge. I think this rule is in the DMV handbook that no one ever reads. Yep, HIghway 85 is a fine highway. read more