Beware! Construction on the 101 to Monterey from San Jose creates a big traffic mess. This was recently posted on [email protected]. I thought it should be posted here. As you can see Red Fred did an advance trip to Monterey a couple days ago and had the following report. Thanks RF Did a little recon today, when we planted a bike in Carmel for this coming
> week. For those attacking from the North: do not approach via the 101/156
> route! 101 is under construction in this area, and is pure hell.
 > Don't be alarmed by the heavy Forrest fire aromas from the fires in
> the area.
> It was pretty exciting seeing all the massive car carriers doing
> their dance though!
> This is what we live for, and its right in our back yard!!!!
> Tail wagging, RF Thanks for the warning, any suggestions for an alternate route? Great
time to have the main drag under construction...

aal

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Arthur Lancaster PMP/SCPM If heading south, take a very curvy road out of Gilroy to Watsonville then down to Castroville on Hwy 1. You will find this a fine road for our type of cars and you miss some tie ups. Jeff Cobb Cell 225-907-4514 Other suggestions would be very helpful. If landing in SFO or San Jose I am guessing that it would be best to head over to Highway 1 and go down to Monterey from there. What say you? FGM
Question for those of you who live in the area. Is it best to take 880 to the 17 and onto Los Gatos and on down to Santa Cruz? Then Highway 1 all the way down to Monterey? Or is it faster to take 152 from Gilroy over to Watsonville catch the 1 there and on down through Castroville and on to Monterey? Thanks again to RF for bringing this to our attention.. Ciao, FGM
For a enjoyable trip take hwy 9 to Saratoga then follow Hwy 9 to santa cruz you will travel through big redwoods forests . A real drivers road with some great winery's hidden up there too. Saratoga has some great restaurants too
Can someone(Redfred ?) be more specific concerning the construction and traffic tie up? Does the traffic congestion affect people traveling south on 101 from Gilroy or west on 156 or both? How bad is the congestion and how many miles is the construction? I usually take I-5 south to Santa Nella and then 152 west through Hollister to 156(101) to Hwy 1 and then south to Monterey. Do I have to consider a different route? Thanks, Larry
It's best have one's cars flown into the Monterey events these days ... Remember the Boomerang Frank?
I would imagine the Hollister route should be fine as Gilroy and the roads listed are north of the 156 if 5 to Hollister is not possible because of your in the bay area then you can take 880 to Los Gatos and over the hill to Santa Cruz and Monterey. Throughout the summer, the California Department of Transportation will conduct significant construction improvements on U.S. 101 on-ramps in South County in order to prepare them for a real-time metering system. The work is expected to begin by the end of June, according to a press release from CalTrans. Work will proceed on 17 freeway exit facilities from the San Benito County line to the U.S. 101 interchange with state route 85. Construction consists of the installation of metering elements, ramp widening, the addition of 22 closed circuit television cameras, 49 maintenance vehicle pullouts, 12 police pullouts and four traffic monitoring stations, according to CalTrans staff. Construction will occur in both day and night hours and some weekends, the press release said. Intermittent ramp closures will occur during the evenings, but some daytime ramp closures are possible. Electronic highway message signs will be posted to help motorists traveling through the area. Noise from the construction will be unavoidable, the press release said. More details on specific lane and ramp closures will be posted on the CalTrans website, when they are scheduled, at California Department of Transportation... The ramp metering/widening project will enhance traffic flow on the freeway, decrease travel time and improve mobility through the corridor during peak hours, the press release said. The electronic traffic systems will allow real-time monitoring of highway conditions to provide better response times for law enforcement, fire and medical emergency. The project is expected to be completed in fall 2015, with the metering system to be turned on and fully functional by 2016, CalTrans staff said. South County on-ramps to U.S. 101, both northbound and southbound, to be affected by the construction activity are located at the following exits: Cochrane Road, Morgan Hill Dunne Avenue, Morgan Hill Tennant Avenue, Morgan Hill San Martin Avenue, San Martin Truck scales on-ramp, San Martin Masten Avenue, San Martin Leavesley Road, Gilroy Tenth Street, Gilroy Monterey Road, Gilroy.
101 was a mess on Saturday, a non-working day, from about 20 miles south of San Jose, all the way to 156. 156 was bad for about 3 to 5 miles also. From SF, I will take 280 south to 85 south, then jump over 17 to the Coast. I've been advised by locals in the Salinas area that it's best to get on the south bound PCH before 3pm. I can only imagine that 101 will be worse during the work week. Also, the inland route of 101 is MUCH warmer than the coast. I plan on heading down today, and will report later. 'till then, RF.
101 in the Morgan hill area has always been bad because the lanes choke down it's always been that way Jerry Brown and the Sierra club blocked the funding back when he's was governor the first time around, 156 is the shortest 152 looks like it has issues SR 152 [IN THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AREA] 1-WAY CONTROLLED TRAFFIC AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS FROM HOLOHAN RD /IN WATSONVILLE/ (SANTA CRUZ CO) TO THE SANTA CRUZ/SANTA CLARA CO LINE FROM 0830 HRS TO 1630 HRS MONDAY THRU FRIDAY THRU 8/15/14 - DUE TO MAINTENANCE - MOTORISTS ARE SUBJECT TO DELAYS OF UP TO 10 MINUTES 1-WAY CONTROLLED TRAFFIC AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS FROM 6.5 MI WEST OF GILROY TO 1.5 MI WEST OF GILROY /AT WATSONVILLE RD/ (SANTA CLARA CO) FROM 0600 HRS TO 1800 HRS MONDAY THRU FRIDAY & FROM 0600 HRS TO 1300 HRS SATURDAY THRU 8/16/14 - DUE TO CONSTRUCTION 1-WAY CONTROLLED TRAFFIC AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS FROM 6 MI EAST OF GILROY /AT OLD LAKE RD/ TO 9.5 MI EAST OF GILROY /AT DUNNE LN/ (SANTA CLARA CO) FROM 2100 HRS EACH NIGHT TO 0500 HRS EACH MORNING MONDAY THRU SATURDAY THRU 8/16/14 - DUE TO CONSTRUCTION - A DETOUR IS AVAILABLE
The Boomerang was flown into SFO where I supervised the loading onto a flatbed for the ride to Carmel Valley. That was a really great year. FGM
I breezed down 280, 85, & 17 to the PCH yesterday. Hi way 1 did have some tourist traffic just north of the Monterey area, but I never went below 2nd gear. My buddy took the 101-156 route, and did OK, but did have stop & go. It's already crowded here! RF
