California State Route 130

State Route 130
Map of Santa Clara County in western California with SR 130 highlighted in red
Route information
Defined by Streets and Highways Code § 430
Maintained by Caltrans
Length:	22.503 mi (36.215 km)
Major junctions
West end:	US 101 in San Jose
	I-680 in San Jose
East end:	Mount Hamilton
Location
Counties:	Santa Clara
Highway system
State highways in California Interstate U.S. State Pre-1964 History Unconstructed Deleted Freeway Scenic ← SR 129 SR 131 →

Route 130 sign leading to Mount Hamilton Road.

Route 130 winding around the Diablo Range Mountains.

Route 130 at the foot of the Diablo Range Mountains looking towards Mount Hamilton and the Lick Observatory.

State Route 130 (SR 130) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California in Santa Clara County. The route runs between San Jose, California, and Mount Hamilton. Much of its length goes through the Diablo Range as Mount Hamilton Road where it is a narrow 2 lane highway. The remainder of SR 130 is numbered along Alum Rock Avenue in San Jose.

Route description

SR 130 begins in the west at U.S. Route 101 just east of Downtown San Jose and runs along the 4-6 lane Alum Rock Ave. SR 130 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 4-6 lanes down to 2. Where Alum Rock Ave and Mt Hamilton Rd meet SR 130 heads east up into the mountains along Mt Hamilton Rd. As the road climbs it continually offers outstanding vistas of San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley that increase the further east you travel. SR 130 also travels through some of the last remaining ranch and naturally wild land in Santa Clara County as well as Joseph D. Grant County Park. As SR 130 approaches the base of Mt 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's closed until crews can clear the snow and black ice. There is also a small community in this area with a small population. Though SR 130 is only signed up to this point, the road continues as San Antonio Valley Road. San Antonio Valley Road eventually leads to Patterson, but there is also a turnoff toward Livermore. This road consists of 1-2 lanes, and may be considered a part of SR 130 in the future. To the west, SR 130 terminates and then continues as Santa Clara Street, after which it becomes SR 82, continuing north to San Francisco. There are currently no plans to designate Santa Clara Street between US Route 101 and SR 82 as SR 130.

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 through the San Antonio Valley. It is not signed officially as such and is not commonly recognized as existing beyond Lick Observatory. Both locals and most map makers do not acknowledge SR 130 existing east of the summit. In addition, east of Lick Observatory the road is maintained by the county rather than the state, as it is west of Lick Observatory, further supporting the position that the eastern portion of the road is not actually part of SR 130 and that the eastern portion still remains technically unbuilt.

Recently, signs have been erected with, "San Antonio Road" with a small "CA-130 East" symbol in the upper right hand corner.

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 into a freeway. The road was intended to facilitate traffic between the Santa Clara Valley 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, 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 Mt. Hamilton either to the north toward State Route 237 or to the south toward San Jose's Evergreen district. The feasibility of the project had come into question, however, as crossing a freeway over the Diablo Range near three of its highest peaks (Mt. 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 from the Lick Observatory. (A freeway through the mountains near the observatory would render it useless due to light pollution.) The freeway plan was quietly abandoned after Congressman Pombo failed in his reelection bid in 2006.

Major intersections

Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, see the list of postmile definitions). Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The entire route is in Santa Clara County.

Location	Postmile	Destinations	Notes
San Jose	0.00	Santa Clara Street	Continuation beyond US 101
	0.00	US 101 (Bayshore Freeway) – Los Angeles, San Francisco	Interchange; west end of SR 130
	1.35	I-680 (Sinclair Freeway) – Sacramento, San Jose	Interchange
​	11.23	Quimby Road
​	22.50	Mount Hamilton	East end of SR 130
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

External links

• Eric Buchanan's Highway 130 Photos Index page
• Google Map of SR130 Area