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Santa Clara County Route G8

Started by Max Rockatansky, January 15, 2021, 11:52:35 PM

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Max Rockatansky

I was burdened with glorious purpose today upon the errant purchase of a freezer from the Gilroy Home Depot.  That being the case I took the time to finally knock out most of Santa Clara County Route G8.  I drove G8 from CA 152 near Hecker Pass north to CA 85 via the Almaden Expressway:

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmTGQdLi

In particular G8 from CA 152 northward through the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Almaden Expressway is pretty scenic.  I did make a slight side trip up Almaden Road to the site of the New Almaden Mine to see what was left of the Quicksliver facilities.  Supposedly there was work going on with the Almaden Expressway but I didn't see anything too notable.


mapman

The mercury ("quicksilver") mine is the reason the San Jose newspaper is named "The Mercury News".  One of its parent papers was named the San Jose Mercury.  Through various mergers, the name enventually changed to the San Jose Mercury News, and more recently, simply The Mercury News.

sparker

I live not too far west of the northern reaches of G8/Almaden Expressway; the signage for that road has always been sporadic north of Blossom Hill.  SB a G8 trailblazer at the corner of Monterey Road (old CA 82) and Alma Avenue, which looks like a holdover from the '60's when G8 was originally signed, still is in place -- but the southward turn onto Almaden Ave. from Alma has lost its signage, so there's no field continuity for the route.  Since 82 was relinquished a while back, Santa Clara County seems to be content to downplay any signage on the route.  The first G8 reassurance sign one encounters SB is near the Curtner Ave. exit; there's an additional one south of Hillsdale/Capitol Expressway (G21 technically ends at that grade-separated intersection, but no signed indication exists there either).  The city of San Jose appears to prefer to not expedite through traffic in denser areas, which likely accounts for today's virtual lack of "pentagon" signage on the city's segments of county expressways. 

Quote from: mapman on January 16, 2021, 01:41:39 AM
The mercury ("quicksilver") mine is the reason the San Jose newspaper is named "The Mercury News".  One of its parent papers was named the San Jose Mercury.  Through various mergers, the name enventually changed to the San Jose Mercury News, and more recently, simply The Mercury News.

AKA the "Murky News".  Dropped my delivery subscription last year when they more than doubled their rates; opted for online, which saves 75% over the print version. 

kkt

Mercury is also a traditional name for newspapers because Mercury was the messenger of the Roman/Greek gods.

Max Rockatansky

Found a CHPW article related to the Almaden Expressway.

September-October 1960

https://archive.org/details/cavol3940liforniahigh6061wa00calirich/page/n343/mode/2up?q=Almaden

-  This goes over the first unit of the Alamden Expressway in San Jose which opened in November 1959.  There is a heavy emphasis on the history of Almaden Road and it's importance to the Almaden Quicksilver Mine. 

Max Rockatansky

From the Gribblnation Blog Site:

Santa Clara County Route G8 is an approximately 30 mile County Sign Route which connects from the vicinity of Hecker Pass near Gilroy north to San Jose.  Santa Clara County Route G8 incorporates the noted Almaden Expressway in the City of San Jose which is a significant arterial surface highway.  The Almaden Expressway essentially is an evolution of the Almaden Road corridor which has been in use since the opening the New Almaden Quicksilver Mine in 1845.  The New Almaden Quicksilver Mine was in operation until 1976 when mining of Mercury became no longer viable and was converted to a Santa Clara County park.  In this blog we explore the history of; the New Almaden Quicksilver Mine, Almaden Road Corridor, Santa Clara County Route G8 and the Almaden Expressway.  This blog contains a photo tour of the major sites of the Almaden Quicksilver County Park including the ghost towns of; Spanish Town and Englishtown.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2021/02/santa-clara-county-g8-and-new-almaden.html



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