A long-awaited project to alleviate Los Gatos beach traffic has received funding -- but it's a drop in the bucket compared to the money needed to address bumper-to-bumper gridlock on summer weekends.

The VTA board of directors has allocated $11.3 million for the State Route 17 Corridor Congestion Relief Project as part of its budgets for fiscal year 2025-26 and 2026-27. The project aims to solve one of Los Gatos' biggest challenges plaguing the town for decades -- beach traffic jamming streets to escape the Highway 17 bottleneck between Lark Avenue and the Highway 9 interchange at Saratoga-Los Gatos Road.

The plan would add a third lane in both directions between Lark Avenue and the interchange, extend merging lanes, reconstruct on and off ramps and construct safer sidewalks and bike lan

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