Can new highway lanes end Los Gatos' beach traffic nightmare?

A long-awaited project to alleviate Los Gatos beach traffic has received funding -- but it's a drop in the bucket compared to the money needed to address bumper-to-bumper gridlock on summer weekends.

The VTA board of directors has allocated $11.3 million for the State Route 17 Corridor Congestion Relief Project as part of its budgets for fiscal year 2025-26 and 2026-27. The project aims to solve one of Los Gatos' biggest challenges plaguing the town for decades -- beach traffic jamming streets to escape the Highway 17 bottleneck between Lark Avenue and the Highway 9 interchange at Saratoga-Los Gatos Road.

The plan would add a third lane in both directions between Lark Avenue and the interchange, extend merging lanes, reconstruct on and off ramps and construct safer sidewalks and bike lanes along Saratoga-Los Gatos Road.

The project has nearly $14.7 million in total, with funding primarily from the town and a half-cent sales tax from Measure B. It's expected to cost between $138 million and $166 million, with construction expected to be finished by 2030 in collaboration with Caltrans.

A VTA representative said the transit agency will apply for state and federal grants on top of using Measure B money to make up for the funding gap. Potential funding could come from Senate Bill 1, 2017 legislation that allocated $5.4 billion to support transit statewide.

Vice Mayor Rob Moore, who also serves as vice chair of VTA's Capital Program Committee, has dealt with the wall-to-wall traffic in town and on Highway 17 ever since he got his license about 11 years ago. He advocated for the project to receive funding despite the transit agency's $868,000 deficit for fiscal year 2025-26.

Moore said this project would be transformative for traffic in Los Gatos and residents' trust in VTA. The transit agency found that during peak weekend commute hours, about 24% of cars driving on Highway 17 cut through the town, according to 2022 data.

The transit agency previously cut down weekend service on the few Los Gatos bus lines it operated because of traffic levels being so poor. VTA studies gave it a failing grade.

"I do think that this project would be a really good step in the right direction for improving the relationship (between residents and VTA)," Moore told San Jose Spotlight.

A VTA spokesperson said the project's planned reduction of congestion and cut-through traffic on Los Gatos streets "could yield quality of life improvements for residents."

VTA began working on the project in 2020 after Los Gatos' unsuccessful attempts to solve the problem, including implementing one-way traffic on North Santa Cruz Avenue and asking navigation apps to stop rerouting drivers into town.

Los Gatos still plans to explore solutions it can implement alongside VTA's project.

The Complete Streets and Transportation Commission unanimously recommended June 12 the Town Council review its beach traffic ad hoc committee report detailing potential solutions to the problem.

Solutions up for consideration include charging drivers using Highway 17 during peak weekend traffic hours, also known as congestion pricing; transforming University Boulevard into a corridor only for buses, cyclists and pedestrians; creating a permanent pedestrian mall on North Santa Cruz Avenue; working with VTA to create a Los Gatos light rail line; installing cameras to catch drivers blocking intersections due to gridlock; and promoting a bike sharing program. The town council will review the ideas at a later date.

Jeff Suzuki, speaking as a resident and not as the commission's chair, said the best way to prevent cut-through traffic is to start congestion pricing. He worked on the report for about a year as part of the ad hoc committee and also wants public transportation improved in a town.

"It is also important to note there is a cost of inaction -- time can work against Los Gatos if it does not pursue longer-term policies. As the population of the greater Bay Area grows with time, our current transportation infrastructure will need to accommodate larger volumes of people," Suzuki told San Jose Spotlight.

Residents are uncertain VTA's plans to mitigate what Los Gatos can't on its own will work.

Carl Lumma, who's lived in town for a decade, can't leave or return to his home near the Highway 9 interchange on prime beach days because of traffic. He's not sure VTA's project will help, but agrees charging beach-goers using Highway 17 during peak weekend hours could prevent cut-through traffic.

"The real problem is there's just too many people coming all at the same time on 17," Lumma told San Jose Spotlight.

Moore said Highway 17 will always have traffic because it's the main route from the valley to the coast. But he said the efforts could ease the bottleneck.

"This project really uniquely addresses the needs of Los Gatos, where we're not trying to rid Highway 17 of traffic, which I think is a fool's errand," he said.

Editor's note: This story was originally published by San Jose Spotlight.