On Thursday, more than 200 law enforcement vehicles will join in a motorcade making the 33-mile trek from Santa Cruz to San Jose, to honor two fallen Santa Cruz police officers Det. Sgt. Loran "Butch" Baker and Det. Elizabeth Butler last week.
The route begins at 8:45 a.m. at the Boardwalk parking lot on Third and Beach streets in Santa Cruz.
It will head up Third Street, across the San Lorenzo River to San Lorenzo Boulevard, and then up Ocean Street to Highway 17. From there, it will continue north to Highway 85 heading south to Highway 87, continuing north on Highway 87, exiting Julian Street to downtown San Jose and the HP Pavilion.
A big note for drivers: There will be rolling road closures all along their path and the procession will take both lanes along the entire route for northbound Highway 17 up through Los Gatos.
Vehicles will be traveling at between 30 and 40 mph. If you get stuck behind that motorcade, you will be allowed to follow the procession but will not be allowed to pass. Try to get over the Summit before 8:30 a.m. to avoid the procession.
Due to the expected volume of guests and the memorial, a tremendous amount of traffic is expected to and through downtown San Jose. If you are coming to downtown San Jose for the event, or even for work, here’s what you’ll want to know.
- Parking is relatively limited in the area around HP Pavilion. Here’s a map from their website which shows their suggested parking sites.
- Though we may suggest that folks use VTA to/thru Downtown SJ, a lot of reroutes will be in place due to funeral.
- A better option is Caltrain service to downtown and/or the funeral. Southbound trains, from anywhere north of the SJ Diridon station would be great options as they arrive every few minutes up until 11a. The Diridon station is very close (less than 3 blocks) to the HP Pavilion. Unfortunately, northbound service into San Jose Diridon is limited to three trains in the morning. This is important, though, for commuters who may want to consider trying that for the day, Gilroy, San Martin, Morgan Hill, Blossom Hill, Capitol and Tamien into the SJ Diridon station. This is an outstanding alternate for those who are coming into town for their workday.
Parking at adjacent Caltrain stations will also be at a premium so plan on an earlier arrival at stations as well. Of special note, Caltrain’s press release advises: “Caltrain provides complimentary service to all law enforcement representatives riding anywhere along our system, with the proper identification.”
We will be covering this funeral, procession and the related impact on the surrounding commute all morning on “Today in the Bay”.
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