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State Route 130 (SR 130) is a state highway that connects U.S. Route 101 in
San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...
with the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton. The segment in San Jose runs along Alum Rock Avenue, while the remainder of SR 130 follows Mount Hamilton Road, a narrow two-lane highway that goes through the
Diablo Range The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. It stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay area at its northern end to the Salinas Valley are ...
in
Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County together f ...
. Legislatively, SR 130 extends east from Mount Hamilton to
Patterson Patterson may refer to: People * Patterson (surname) Places ;Canada * Pattersons Corners, Ontario *Patterson Township, Ontario *Patterson, Calgary a neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta. ;United States of America * Patterson, Arkansas *Patterson, C ...
in Stanislaus County, forming a route between the Santa Clara and San Joaquin valleys, but the traversable route via San Antonio Valley Road and Del Puerto Canyon Road is maintained at the county level and has not yet been formally adopted by the
California Department of Transportation The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the cabinet-level California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). Caltrans is headquartered in Sacr ...
(Caltrans).


Route description

SR 130 begins in the west at U.S. Route 101 just east of
Downtown San Jose Downtown San Jose is the central business district of San Jose, California. Downtown is one of the largest tech clusters in Silicon Valley, as well as the cultural and political center of San Jose. History The town was first settled in 1777. T ...
and runs along the 4-6 lane Alum Rock Avenue. It continues over a junction with Interstate 680 through San Jose's Alum Rock neighborhood. The road narrows as it begins to run into the foothills from four to six lanes down to two. Where Alum Rock Avenue and Mount Hamilton Road meet, SR 130 heads east up into the mountains along Mount Hamilton Road, offering vistas of San Jose and the
Santa Clara Valley The Santa Clara Valley is a geologic trough in Northern California that extends 90 miles (145 km) south–southeast from San Francisco to Hollister. The longitudinal valley is bordered on the west by the Santa Cruz Mountains and on the east ...
, and traveling through some of the last remaining ranch and naturally wild land in Santa Clara County as well as
Joseph D. Grant County Park Joseph D. Grant County Park is the largest county park in Santa Clara County, California. Also known as Grant Ranch Park, this site is situated in the Diablo Range foothills of the eastern Santa Clara Valley. The park is one of 28 owned by Santa ...
. As SR 130 approaches the base of Mount Hamilton itself, the road narrows further and is barely capable of supporting two cars abreast. The narrow road begins a series of tight switchbacks that culminate on the summit of Mount Hamilton at the Lick Observatory. The observatory also serves as the existing route's eastern terminus at around 4,200 ft. (1,280 m) elevation. When snow falls on the higher elevations of the road, it is closed until crews can clear the snow and
black ice Black ice, sometimes called clear ice, is a thin coating of glaze ice on a surface, especially on streets. The ice itself is not black, but visually transparent, allowing the often black road below to be seen through it. The typically low level ...
. There is a small community in this area. Although state maintenance of SR 130 ends at this point, the road continues east of the Lick Observatory as the county road San Antonio Valley Road. San Antonio Valley Road terminates at the intersection of Mines Road (to Livermore) and Del Puerto Canyon Road, which the latter eventually leads to
Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...
and
Patterson Patterson may refer to: People * Patterson (surname) Places ;Canada * Pattersons Corners, Ontario *Patterson Township, Ontario *Patterson, Calgary a neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta. ;United States of America * Patterson, Arkansas *Patterson, C ...
. It consists of one to two lanes, and may be considered a part of SR 130 by the state in the future. The County of Santa Clara has posted SR 130 markers along the section it controls, but the route within Stanislaus County remains totally unsigned by either the state or the county there. To the west, after the continuation of SR 130, Alum Rock Road continues as Santa Clara Street, after which it becomes SR 82, continuing north to
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
. There are currently no plans to designate Santa Clara Street between US 101 and SR 82 as SR 130. A portion of SR 130 in San Jose 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 The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program ...
.


History

SR 130 did not exist as a state highway before 1964; however, the roads it travels had existed since Lick Observatory was built. Legislatively, SR 130 continues for 30 additional miles (48 km) east of Lick Observatory to State Route 33 in
Patterson, California Patterson is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States, located off Interstate 5. It is southeast of Tracy and is part of the Modesto Metropolitan Statistical Area. Patterson is known as the " Apricot Capital of the World"; the ...
through the
San Antonio Valley The community of San Antonio Valley, also called San Antonio or San Antone, is located along the Diablo Range in eastern Santa Clara County, California. The locale is bordered by Alameda County to the north and Stanislaus County to the east. ...
. East of the Lick Observatory, the road is maintained by the county rather than the state, and therefore this portion of the state highway remains technically unbuilt. However, the County of Santa Clara has posted small SR 130 markers along the traversable route, including where San Antonio Canyon Road begins east of the Lick Observatory entrance, the intersection of San Antonio and Del Puerto Canyon Roads. and at the Stanislaus County line. Thus, map makers may acknowledge SR 130 existing east of the summit.


Future

Money had been set aside by the state to study the feasibility of turning part of SR 130's legislative route from San Antonio Valley Road east to
Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...
into a freeway. This was intended to facilitate traffic between the
Santa Clara Valley The Santa Clara Valley is a geologic trough in Northern California that extends 90 miles (145 km) south–southeast from San Francisco to Hollister. The longitudinal valley is bordered on the west by the Santa Cruz Mountains and on the east ...
and the Central Valley; the former is experiencing population growth and real estate development. The project's main proponent was former United States Representative
Richard Pombo Richard William Pombo, GOIH (born January 8, 1961) is an American lobbyist for mining and water-management companies and former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, having represented California's 11th congressional ...
, who was the House Resources Committee chair when in Congress and himself a member of a family with extensive Central Valley property holdings near the proposed freeway's path. The proposed freeway's path west of San Antonio Valley Road would have bypassed Mount Hamilton either to the north toward State Route 237 or to the south toward San Jose's Evergreen district. The feasibility of the project came into question, however, as constructing a freeway over the Diablo Range near three of its highest peaks (Mount Hamilton included) would have been very difficult. The project also faced stiff opposition from taxpayers, environmentalists, residents of the area looking to preserve their area's local charm, and the Lick Observatory (A freeway through the mountains near the observatory would render it useless by
light pollution Light pollution is the presence of unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive use of artificial Visible spectrum, lighting. In a descriptive sense, the term ''light pollution'' refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting, during the day ...
). The freeway plan was quietly abandoned after Congressman Pombo failed in his reelection bid in 2006.


Major intersections


Mount Hamilton to Patterson

This junction list consists of the county-maintained, Mount Hamilton-to-Patterson route that has not yet been formally adopted by Caltrans. There are no postmiles maintained by the state.


See also

*


References


External links

{{commons category
Eric Buchanan's Highway 130 Photos Index pageCaltrans: Route 130 highway conditions
130 State Route 130 Diablo Range State Route 130