# California State Route 82

State Route 82 (SR 82) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from Interstate 880 (I-880) in San Jose to I-280 in San Francisco following the San Francisco Peninsula. It is the spinal arterial road of the peninsula and runs parallel to the nearby Caltrain line along much of the route. For much of its length, the highway is named El Camino Real and formed part of the historic El Camino Real mission trail. It passes through and near the historic downtowns of many Peninsula cities, including Burlingame, San Mateo, Redwood City, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, and Santa Clara, and through some of the most walkable and transit-oriented neighborhoods in the region.

## Route description

At its south end SR 82 starts as The Alameda at I-880 in San Jose. Once it enters Santa Clara, it bends north-east around Santa Clara University and onto El Camino Real, where it continues for the remainder of its trip up the San Francisco Peninsula, paralleling the Caltrain corridor. SR 82, generally called "El Camino" by local residents, runs through a number of cities on the Peninsula, including Palo Alto (passing by Stanford University), San Carlos, San Mateo, Burlingame, and Millbrae, and it is a central artery of the Peninsula communities through which it passes.
In Daly City, SR 82 becomes Mission Street, connecting with San Francisco's Mission Street, but then quickly flows onto San Jose Avenue, crossing Alemany Boulevard, and terminating at I-280.
SR 82 takes an inland course paralleling US 101. The entire route is at street level with at least four lanes of traffic; no portions of it exist as a freeway, although the route is occasionally a divided highway. The Bayshore Freeway and I-280 tend to provide faster alternatives than Route 82 even during traffic jams on those freeways.
From 1964 to 1968, SR 82 continued past its current end north on Alemany Boulevard to Bayshore Boulevard in San Francisco (see below).
Prior to 2013, SR 82 continued past its current south end on The Alameda, becoming Santa Clara Street in Downtown San Jose then turning south on Montgomery Street (southbound) / Autumn Street (northbound); then it turned east on San Carlos Street It turned south on Market Street, which becomes First Street and then Monterey Highway. It followed Monterey Highway until it turned east briefly on Blossom Hill Road, where it ended at US 101. This relinquished segment south of I-880 within San Jose is legally no longer a state highway, but the state's Streets and Highways Code mandates that the City of San Jose is still required to maintain "signs directing motorists to the continuation of Route 82" and "ensure the continuity of traffic flow" on this segment. Signs along US 101, I-280, and SR 87 where these relinquished segments intersect still have SR 82 shields. Though as of 2017, certain signs with SR 82 shields have been removed along US 101 near Blossom Hill Road and Capitol Expressway.
SR 82 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.

## History

Originally a segment of US 101 (and before that, the historic El Camino Real), the highway became completely inadequate for the needs of traffic with the rapid growth of the San Francisco Bay Area after World War II, including urbanization of the towns along its path. The Bayshore Highway to the east was originally built as "Bypass (BYP) US 101" and was upgraded to a freeway in 1937. With this upgrade, the original US 101 route was transferred to the Bayshore Freeway, and El Camino Real became US 101 BYP, but in response to protests, the switch in designations was reversed two years later, in 1939, and the Bayshore Freeway remained US 101 BYP until 1964.
In 1964, US 101 was moved again onto the Bayshore Freeway, and its former alignment on El Camino Real became SR 82. It was defined as two portions: From Route (US) 101 near Ford Road south of San Jose to Route (US) 101 in San Francisco (which today corresponds to the Alemany Maze), and from Route (US) 101 near Alemany Boulevard to Route (SR) 87 (current unconstructed SR 230) in San Francisco. In 1968, the portions from I-280 (at current SR 82) to US 101 and from SR 101 to SR 87 were transferred to I-280. SR 87 was then deleted north of SR 237 in 1980, and is only constructed south of US 101, and SR 82 today is designated as part of El Camino Real.
In 2013, SR 82 was relinquished south of I-880 through San Jose. However, the state's Streets and Highways Code states that the City of San Jose is still required to "ensure the continuity of traffic flow on the relinquished former portion of Route 82" along The Alameda into downtown San Jose, and from there along Monterey Road to its former terminus at Blossom Hill Road and US 101. The city also has the further option to apply to make this segment a business route.

### Grand Boulevard Initiative

The Grand Boulevard Initiative is a partnership of nineteen Bay Area transit agencies and municipalities that operate or manage various portions of the route. Although El Camino Real is ultimately under the stewardship of Caltrans, the organization nevertheless sponsors aesthetic and infrastructural improvements along the corridor and its neighboring parcels in order to revitalize the streetscape and promote density and more walkable and transit-oriented development.

## 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 to an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, see California postmile § Official postmile definitions). Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.
| County | Location | Postmile | Destinations | Notes |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | San Jose | R0.00 | Silver Creek Valley Road | Continuation beyond US 101 |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | San Jose | R0.00 | US 101 (Bayshore Freeway) – San Francisco, Los Angeles | Interchange; original south end of SR 82; US 101 exit 378 |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | San Jose | R0.36 | Monterey Road, Blossom Hill Road (CR G10), Cottle Road | Interchange |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | San Jose | 2.81 | Capitol Expressway (CR G21) | Interchange |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | San Jose | 6.06 | CR G8 (Alma Avenue) | |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | San Jose | 6.90 | I-280 (Sinclair Freeway) | Interchange; I-280 north exit 2, south exit 2A |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | San Jose | R7.31 | San Carlos Street, Market Street | |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | San Jose | R7.72 | SR 87 (Guadalupe Parkway) | Interchange; SR 87 north exit 6, south exit 6A |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | San Jose | R8.08 | Bird Avenue, San Carlos Street | |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | San Jose | R8.61 | Santa Clara Street | |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | San Jose | 9.91 | I-880 (Nimitz Freeway) – Oakland, Santa Cruz | Interchange; south end of state maintenance; I-880 exit 2; former SR 17 |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | Santa Clara | 11.38 | De la Cruz Boulevard, Coleman Avenue to US 101 | Interchange |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | Santa Clara | ​ | CR G4 (San Tomas Expressway) | |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | Santa Clara | 14.30 | Lawrence Expressway (CR G2) | Interchange |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | Sunnyvale | 17.04 | Mathilda Avenue | Former SR 85 |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | Mountain View | 18.84 | SR 85 – San Francisco, Cupertino, Santa Cruz | Interchange; SR 85 exits 22A-B |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | Mountain View | 19.13 | SR 237 east / Grant Road – Milpitas | SR 237 exit 1A |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | Mountain View–Los Altos line | 21.84 | San Antonio Road | |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | Palo Alto | 24.04 | CR G3 (Page Mill Road to Oregon Expressway) | |
| Santa Clara SCL R0.00-26.37 | Palo Alto | 25.88 | Palm Drive, University Avenue – Stanford University, Palo Alto Caltrain Station | Interchange |
| San Mateo SM 0.00-25.15 | Menlo Park | 0.77 | Santa Cruz Avenue | No left turns from SR 82 |
| San Mateo SM 0.00-25.15 | Atherton | 1.89 | Atherton Avenue | |
| San Mateo SM 0.00-25.15 | Redwood City | 3.44 | SR 84 (Woodside Road) / Main Street – Woodside | Interchange |
| San Mateo SM 0.00-25.15 | San Carlos | 6.57 | Holly Street | |
| San Mateo SM 0.00-25.15 | Belmont | 7.69 | Ralston Avenue | Former Legislative Route 214 |
| San Mateo SM 0.00-25.15 | San Mateo | 9.33 | Hillsdale Boulevard | Interchange |
| San Mateo SM 0.00-25.15 | San Mateo | 10.55 | SR 92 – San Mateo Bridge, Hayward, Half Moon Bay | Interchange; SR 92 exit 12A |
| San Mateo SM 0.00-25.15 | Burlingame | 12.96 | Peninsula Avenue | |
| San Mateo SM 0.00-25.15 | Millbrae | 15.95 | Millbrae Avenue | |
| San Mateo SM 0.00-25.15 | San Bruno | 18.60 | San Bruno Avenue | |
| San Mateo SM 0.00-25.15 | San Bruno | 18.96 | I-380 to US 101 / I-280 – San Francisco International Airport, San Jose, Daly City, San Francisco | Interchange; I-380 east exit 5, west exit 5C |
| San Mateo SM 0.00-25.15 | South San Francisco | 21.91 | Hickey Boulevard | |
| San Mateo SM 0.00-25.15 | Colma | ​ | Serramonte Boulevard | |
| San Mateo SM 0.00-25.15 | Daly City | 24.85 | John Daly Boulevard, Hillside Boulevard | |
| San Mateo SM 0.00-25.15 | Daly City | 24.93 | Mission Street | |
| City and County of San Francisco SF 0.00-R0.21 | City and County of San Francisco SF 0.00-R0.21 | ​ | Alemany Boulevard | Former SR 82 north; no left turn from SR 82 south to Alemany Boulevard |
| City and County of San Francisco SF 0.00-R0.21 | City and County of San Francisco SF 0.00-R0.21 | R0.21 | I-280 north – San Francisco Civic Center, Bay Bridge | Interchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance; no direct access to I-280 south; I-280 south exit 50 |
| City and County of San Francisco SF 0.00-R0.21 | City and County of San Francisco SF 0.00-R0.21 | R0.21 | San Jose Avenue | Continuation beyond I-280 |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Incomplete access Route transition |||||
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Postmiles are measured from SR 82's original southern end at US 101, before the segment south of I-880 was deleted and relinquished to local control. However, the City of San Jose is still required under the California Streets and Highways Code to "ensure the continuity of traffic flow on the relinquished former portion of Route 82" with the further option to apply "for approval of a business route designation".