Add Almaden Expressway to growing list of clogged roads

Q It took exactly 1 hour to make my 13mile commute recently from South San Jose to Santa Clara. No accidents, just very bad traffic. An all-time record.

I didn’t think it could get much worse, but it has. — Roger M., San Jose

A Some records are not worth tracking. Roger’s commute is now mainly on Almaden Expressway or parallel city streets, normally a 30plus minute drive.

Q Have traffic engineers taken a look at Almaden Expressway north during rush hour lately? It is absolutely horrible and can take as much as 40 minutes to get from McAbee Road to Highway 87. It seems the traffic lights are out of sync. — Shiva Sitaraman, San Jose

A This is the latest hot spot on South Bay roads and traffic jams along the expressway started after San Jose State University classes started in late August.

But the signals on Almaden are working as planned. The section between Ironwood and Foxworthy is simply oversaturated between 7:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. The county says it is maxed out on green time for Almaden at Ironwood and cannot add any more time.

This is the second year in a row the county is seeing this surge in traffic. But there’s a sliver of hope.

Traffic last year eased as the holidays approached and for some reason when SJSU reopened for spring semester the problem was not as bad as during the fall semester. Stay hopeful.

Q Any chance Almaden Expressway will be upgraded from Redmond Avenue to Almaden Road? — Fred L., San Jose

A Yes, over time. One plan is to widen Almaden to eight lanes from Coleman to Blossom Hill Road and to six lanes from Camden to Almaden Road and redesign the Highway 85/Almaden interchange, and intersections at Branham Lane and at Camden Avenue.

Q Northbound Almaden Expressway backs way up for the left-hand exit onto the ramp for Highway 87.

Now a huge number of commuters are zipping by the queued line of cars, making a Uturn, and coming back south to make an illegal right turn onto the freeway ramp. I just saw five drivers do this in one traffic light change.

They even crowd onto the already filled ramp and block southbound drivers at the traffic signal on Almaden. Is SJPD interested in making a killing ticketing these scofflaws? It would be like shooting fish in a barrel, and all the rest of us will cheer them on. — Spencer Shaw, San Jose

A SJPD is on the alert. U-turns seem to be a popular way to skirt long backups.