California State Route 237
Encyclopedia
State Route 237 runs from El Camino Real
(SR 82
) in Mountain View
to Interstate 680
in Milpitas
. It runs south of the San Francisco Bay
, connecting the East Bay
to the Peninsula
.
This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System
.
. It also has a major intersection with Interstate 880. Westbound traffic can connect to Highway 85
southbound, but the eastbound traffic connection to 85 northbound is labeled as an exit for U.S. 101.
Half a mile from the highway's western terminus, to the I-880 intersection, Route 237 is constructed to Interstate standards, and is named the Southbay Freeway. It is not part of the Interstate system, however, despite a sign on the ramp to it from Northbound I-680 to the contrary. East of I-880 in Milpitas, it becomes a surface street, Calaveras Boulevard, and the highway designation terminates at the intersection with I-680. West of El Camino Real in Mountain View, it becomes a surface street, Grant Road.
It begins at a junction with El Camino Real (CA-82) in Mountain View as a freeway with two lanes in each direction, although most traffic comes from State Route 85. After an intersection with US Route 101, Mathilda Avenue, and Fair Oaks Avenue, a carpool lane is added for a total of 3 lanes in either direction. It remains like this as it passes the companies where commuters work, to its east end of the freeway at I-880, where most eastbound traffic is directed to northbound 880. The route becomes a street, Calaveras Boulevard, in Milpitas, terminating at I-680. Calaveras Blvd becomes Calaveras Road.
Route 237 is known for the many Silicon Valley
companies that line its route.
Before Route 237 was upgraded to freeway status in the mid-1990s, it was a 4-6 lane street, known as Alviso-Milpitas Road or Milpitas-Alviso Road depending on different maps showing the description.
The Route 237 corridor has long been sought as a location for a freeway connector between Interstates 680
and 880. Many possible sites have been suggested, from Montague Expressway in North San Jose
to Mission Boulevard in Fremont
. One map printed before 237's construction to freeway standards between Alviso
and 880 showed a new freeway across bay wetlands between Alviso and the Scott Creek Road interchange in South Fremont. Grading and underpasses for a freeway interchange are presently visible along 680 near Scott Creek Road. http://www.cahighways.org/233-240.html#237
Route 237 is known for a number of companies that define Silicon Valley
's technological landscape. Many major software and hardware manufacturers have their headquarters along 237. Some of these manufacturers include Lockheed-Martin, Brocade Communications Systems
, Nortel Networks, Cisco Systems
, Yahoo!
, TiVo
, Ariba
and NetApp.
Route 237 also passes Moffett Federal Airfield
, a large former military air base in the Bay Area, and Onizuka Air Force Station
, locally known as the blue cube.
This bikeway serves as an important connector in the network of trails in San Jose
and Santa Clara County
. It intersects with the Guadalupe River Trail
, which provides access to Downtown San Jose
, as well as the San Tomas Aquino Creek and Coyote Creek trails.
The entire route is in Santa Clara County
.
{| class=wikitable
!Location
!Postmile
!Exit
!Destinations
!Notes
|-
|rowspan=7|Mountain View
|R0.00
|
|Grant Road
|Continuation beyond SR 82
|-
|R0.00
|1A
|
|
|-
|colspan=4 align=center|West end of freeway
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|R0.38
|1A
|
|Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|R0.38
|1B
|
|Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
|-
|R0.61
|1B
|Dana Street, Evelyn Avenue, Whisman Road
|Signed as exit 1C westbound
|-
|M1.55
|2
|Middlefield Road, Maude Avenue
|
|-
|rowspan=5|Sunnyvale
|2.48
|3A
|
|Westbound exit is via exit 3B
|-
|2.48
|3A
|
|Eastbound exit is via exit 3B
|-
|2.99
|3B
|Mathilda Avenue – Sunnyvale
|Former SR 9
south
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|R3.97
|4
|Fair Oaks Avenue
|Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
|-
|R4.60
|5
|Lawrence Expressway (CR G2), Caribbean Drive
|
|-
|Santa Clara
|R5.83
|6
|Great America Parkway, Lafayette Street
|
|-
|rowspan=2|San Jose
|6.87
|7
|North First Street
|
|-
|8.02
|8
|Zanker Road
|
|-
|rowspan=9|Milpitas
|R9.13
|9A
|McCarthy Boulevard
|
|-
|9.34
|9
|
|Signed as exits 9B (south) and 9C (north)
|-
|colspan=4 align=center|East end of freeway
|-
|
|
|Serra Way to Main Street
|
|-
|
|
|Abel Street to Main Street
|
|-
|10.00
|10
|Main Street
|Interchange; westbound exit and eastbound entrance; former SR 238
|-
|
|
|Milpitas Boulevard
|
|-
|11.08
|11
|
|Interchange; signed as exits 11A (south) and 11B (north)
|-
|11.08
|
|Calaveras Boulevard
|Continuation beyond I-680
El Camino Real (California)
El Camino Real and sometimes associated with Calle Real usually refers to the 600-mile California Mission Trail, connecting the former Alta California's 21 missions , 4 presidios, and several pueblos, stretching from Mission San Diego de Alcalá in San Diego...
(SR 82
California State Route 82
State Route 82 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from U.S. Route 101 at Blossom Hill Road in San Jose to Interstate 280 in San Francisco following the San Francisco Peninsula...
) in Mountain View
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
to Interstate 680
Interstate 680 (California)
Interstate 680 is a north–south Interstate Highway in Northern California. It curves around the eastern cities of the San Francisco Bay Area from San Jose to Interstate 80 at Cordelia, bypassing cities along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay such as Oakland and Richmond while serving...
in Milpitas
Milpitas, California
Milpitas is a city in Santa Clara County, California. It is a suburb of the major city of San Jose, California. It is located with San Jose to its south and Fremont to its north, at the eastern end of State Route 237 and generally between Interstates 680 and 880 which run roughly north/south...
. It runs south of the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
, connecting the East Bay
East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
The East Bay is a commonly used, informal term for the lands on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay, in the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, United States...
to the Peninsula
San Francisco Peninsula
The San Francisco Peninsula is a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area that separates the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. On its northern tip is the City and County of San Francisco. Its southern base is in Santa Clara County, including the cities of Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Mountain...
.
This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System
California Freeway and Expressway System
The California Freeway and Expressway System is a system of existing or planned freeways and expressways in the U.S. state of California. It is defined by the Streets and Highways Code.-List of roads in the system:*State Route 1 *State Route 2...
.
Route description
It intersects with Highway 101 at the southern corner of Moffett FieldMoffett Federal Airfield
Moffett Federal Airfield , also known as Moffett Field, is a joint civil-military airport located between northern Mountain View and northern Sunnyvale, California, USA. The airport is near the south end of San Francisco Bay, northwest of San Jose. Formerly a United States Navy facility, the former...
. It also has a major intersection with Interstate 880. Westbound traffic can connect to Highway 85
California State Route 85
State Route 85 is a freeway which connects Mountain View and southern San Jose. The entire freeway is named the West Valley Freeway. The majority of the route is also named the Norman Y. Mineta Highway, with the exception of the portion of Highway 85 passing through Saratoga which is named the CHP...
southbound, but the eastbound traffic connection to 85 northbound is labeled as an exit for U.S. 101.
Half a mile from the highway's western terminus, to the I-880 intersection, Route 237 is constructed to Interstate standards, and is named the Southbay Freeway. It is not part of the Interstate system, however, despite a sign on the ramp to it from Northbound I-680 to the contrary. East of I-880 in Milpitas, it becomes a surface street, Calaveras Boulevard, and the highway designation terminates at the intersection with I-680. West of El Camino Real in Mountain View, it becomes a surface street, Grant Road.
It begins at a junction with El Camino Real (CA-82) in Mountain View as a freeway with two lanes in each direction, although most traffic comes from State Route 85. After an intersection with US Route 101, Mathilda Avenue, and Fair Oaks Avenue, a carpool lane is added for a total of 3 lanes in either direction. It remains like this as it passes the companies where commuters work, to its east end of the freeway at I-880, where most eastbound traffic is directed to northbound 880. The route becomes a street, Calaveras Boulevard, in Milpitas, terminating at I-680. Calaveras Blvd becomes Calaveras Road.
Route 237 is known for the many Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
companies that line its route.
Before Route 237 was upgraded to freeway status in the mid-1990s, it was a 4-6 lane street, known as Alviso-Milpitas Road or Milpitas-Alviso Road depending on different maps showing the description.
The Route 237 corridor has long been sought as a location for a freeway connector between Interstates 680
Interstate 680 (California)
Interstate 680 is a north–south Interstate Highway in Northern California. It curves around the eastern cities of the San Francisco Bay Area from San Jose to Interstate 80 at Cordelia, bypassing cities along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay such as Oakland and Richmond while serving...
and 880. Many possible sites have been suggested, from Montague Expressway in North San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
to Mission Boulevard in Fremont
Fremont, California
Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California. It was incorporated on January 23, 1956, from the merger of five smaller communities: Centerville, Niles, Irvington, Mission San Jose, and Warm Springs...
. One map printed before 237's construction to freeway standards between Alviso
Alviso, San Jose, California
Alviso is a small community in San Jose, Santa Clara County, California. It is located approximately south of Drawbridge, at the north end of San José where it meets the southern end of the San Francisco Bay and borders the nearby city of Milpitas....
and 880 showed a new freeway across bay wetlands between Alviso and the Scott Creek Road interchange in South Fremont. Grading and underpasses for a freeway interchange are presently visible along 680 near Scott Creek Road. http://www.cahighways.org/233-240.html#237
Route 237 is known for a number of companies that define Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
's technological landscape. Many major software and hardware manufacturers have their headquarters along 237. Some of these manufacturers include Lockheed-Martin, Brocade Communications Systems
Brocade Communications Systems
Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. , based in Silicon Valley , is a vendor of storage area network hardware and software. The company also designs, manufactures, and sells networking products and management applications for local, metro, and wide area networks...
, Nortel Networks, Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...
, Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
, TiVo
TiVo
TiVo is a digital video recorder developed and marketed by TiVo, Inc. and introduced in 1999. TiVo provides an on-screen guide of scheduled broadcast programming television programs, whose features include "Season Pass" schedules which record every new episode of a series, and "WishList"...
, Ariba
Ariba
Ariba is a software and information technology services company located in Sunnyvale, California.- Early life :Ariba was founded in 1996 by Bobby Lent, Boris Putanec, Paul Touw, Rob Desantis, Ed Kinsey, Paul Hegarty, and Keith Krach on the idea of using the Internet to enable companies to...
and NetApp.
Route 237 also passes Moffett Federal Airfield
Moffett Federal Airfield
Moffett Federal Airfield , also known as Moffett Field, is a joint civil-military airport located between northern Mountain View and northern Sunnyvale, California, USA. The airport is near the south end of San Francisco Bay, northwest of San Jose. Formerly a United States Navy facility, the former...
, a large former military air base in the Bay Area, and Onizuka Air Force Station
Onizuka Air Force Station
Onizuka Air Force Station was a United States Air Force installation in Santa Clara County, California, just outside the city limits of Sunnyvale, at the intersection of U.S. Route 101 and State Route 237...
, locally known as the blue cube.
Highway 237 Bikeway
The Highway 237 Bikeway is a 5 miles (8 km) pedestrian and bicycle path that parallels State Route 237. The majority of the path is separated from vehicular traffic, however, two sections comprising a total of 1.5 miles (2.4 km) follow an on-street alignment adjacent the freeway.This bikeway serves as an important connector in the network of trails in San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
and Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County is a county located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,781,642. The county seat is San Jose. The highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley...
. It intersects with the Guadalupe River Trail
Guadalupe River Trail
The Guadalupe River Trail is an pedestrian and bicycle path in the city of San Jose, California. The path runs along the banks of the Guadalupe River. The trail is currently composed of two discontinuous segments...
, which provides access to Downtown San Jose
Downtown San Jose
Downtown San Jose is the central business district of San Jose, California, United States. The area is generally located north of Interstate 280 and east of Guadalupe Parkway, which roughly parallels the Guadalupe River. The region is bound to the north by U.S...
, as well as the San Tomas Aquino Creek and Coyote Creek trails.
Major intersections
- Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment as it existed at that time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage.
The entire route is in Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County is a county located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,781,642. The county seat is San Jose. The highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley...
.
{| class=wikitable
!Location
!Postmile
!Exit
Exit number
An exit number is a number assigned to a road junction, usually an exit from a freeway. It is usually marked on the same sign as the destinations of the exit, as well as a sign in the gore....
!Destinations
!Notes
|-
|rowspan=7|Mountain View
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
|R0.00
|
|Grant Road
|Continuation beyond SR 82
|-
|R0.00
|1A
|
|
|-
|colspan=4 align=center|West end of freeway
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|R0.38
|1A
|
|Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|R0.38
|1B
|
|Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
|-
|R0.61
|1B
|Dana Street, Evelyn Avenue, Whisman Road
|Signed as exit 1C westbound
|-
|M1.55
|2
|Middlefield Road, Maude Avenue
|
|-
|rowspan=5|Sunnyvale
Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is one of the major cities that make up the Silicon Valley located in the San Francisco Bay Area...
|2.48
|3A
|
|Westbound exit is via exit 3B
|-
|2.48
|3A
|
|Eastbound exit is via exit 3B
|-
|2.99
|3B
|Mathilda Avenue – Sunnyvale
Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is one of the major cities that make up the Silicon Valley located in the San Francisco Bay Area...
|Former SR 9
California State Route 9
State Route 9 is mainly a rural and mountainous route in the U.S. state of California that travels 35 miles from SR 1 near Santa Cruz to SR 17 in Los Gatos, passing through the San Lorenzo Valley and the Saratoga Gap...
south
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|R3.97
|4
|Fair Oaks Avenue
|Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
|-
|R4.60
|5
|Lawrence Expressway (CR G2), Caribbean Drive
|
|-
|Santa Clara
Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the...
|R5.83
|6
|Great America Parkway, Lafayette Street
|
|-
|rowspan=2|San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
|6.87
|7
|North First Street
|
|-
|8.02
|8
|Zanker Road
|
|-
|rowspan=9|Milpitas
Milpitas, California
Milpitas is a city in Santa Clara County, California. It is a suburb of the major city of San Jose, California. It is located with San Jose to its south and Fremont to its north, at the eastern end of State Route 237 and generally between Interstates 680 and 880 which run roughly north/south...
|R9.13
|9A
|McCarthy Boulevard
|
|-
|9.34
|9
|
|Signed as exits 9B (south) and 9C (north)
|-
|colspan=4 align=center|East end of freeway
|-
|
|
|Serra Way to Main Street
|
|-
|
|
|Abel Street to Main Street
|
|-
|10.00
|10
|Main Street
|Interchange; westbound exit and eastbound entrance; former SR 238
California State Route 238
State Route 238 is a north–south highway in the U.S. state of California. The route is a divided multilane surface highway in the southeastern part of the San Francisco Bay Area. SR 238 connects Interstate 580 in Castro Valley and Interstate 680 in Fremont.-Route description:SR 238 goes...
|-
|
|
|Milpitas Boulevard
|
|-
|11.08
|11
|
|Interchange; signed as exits 11A (south) and 11B (north)
|-
|11.08
|
|Calaveras Boulevard
|Continuation beyond I-680