Los Gatos mayor floats beach-day tolls on Highway 9 and South Santa Cruz Avenue on-ramps to keep traffic on 17

Drivers headed for Santa Cruz on hot weekends could one day pay to use two southbound on-ramps in Los Gatos, if an idea floated by Mayor Rob Moore moves forward.

In a column published this week in the Los Gatan, Moore said he wants to pilot congestion pricing on the South Santa Cruz Avenue and Highway 9 on-ramps, the two routes he says drivers use to leave Highway 17 and shortcut through local streets.

Charges would apply only during peak beach traffic, with prices rising as demand grows, so there would be no reason to exit the freeway, he wrote. Because it would be a pilot, he added, the town could end it if people find the charges worse than the congestion.

The column does not say when, or whether, the proposal will come before the Town Council.

The problem he describes

Moore wrote that beach traffic hits Los Gatos on 12 to 24 hot weekend days a year. He cited VTA data showing that at peak weekend hours roughly a quarter of Highway 17 drivers, 24%, leave the freeway for town streets, many of them routed by navigation apps.

Past attempts include shutting South Santa Cruz Avenue near Wood Road, a trial of one-way downtown streets, turn limits in the Almond Grove neighborhood and talks with navigation companies; he said those efforts helped only a little or pushed traffic into other neighborhoods.

He traced the backup to the Lark Avenue exit, where Highway 17 narrows from four lanes to two over roughly half a mile.

The longer-term fix

Moore pointed to the Highway 17 Corridor Congestion Relief Project, a partnership of the town, VTA and Caltrans. It would widen the freeway to three lanes each way from Lark Avenue to Highway 9 and rebuild the Highway 17 and Highway 9 cloverleaf interchange with longer ramps and a safer crossing for people walking and biking.

He said $11 million has been secured for design and environmental review, which he described as almost finished, and that construction is now estimated at $178 million. VTA would pay most of it, with Los Gatos seeking grants for the rest, he wrote, but building is still a few years off.

Moore, who is vice chair of VTA's Capital Program Committee, also said he backs a town Transportation Commission proposal for free VTA passes for all Los Gatos High School students and staff, along with free transit for seniors.

Sources

losgatan.com