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Connect North San José

The comment period to review the draft Connect North San José plan is open! Review all five chapters of the plan:
To provide feedback on the draft plan, fill out our comment form. Be sure to provide your comments by or before Monday, March 9, 2026.

Connect North San José is an effort to create a Multimodal Transportation Improvement Plan (MTIP). The Department of Transportation (DOT) values community opinions and intends to focus on them in the plan. This process began in January 2024 and is expected to continue until mid-2025. The final plan will include transportation projects, guidelines, and programs that will aim to make North San José safer and easier to get around.

North San José is the economic engine of our City. It is home to many influential companies, local businesses, and non-profit service organizations. The languages spoken there are primarily English, Chinese, Spanish, French, and Korean. In 2050, North San José will be home to nearly double the people who live there now, and it will have 40% more jobs (Plan Bay Area 2050). Growth in Alviso, downtown, and other close-by cities will have additional impact on the ease of getting around. The rise in population increases the need to make North San José a more accessible and safe place. This plan aims to create a more connected area by building better connections to light rail, BART, the Guadalupe River Trail, and the Coyote Creek Trail.

The goals of this plan are to:

  • Develop a vision for North San José that provides access for all
  • Identify where to invest money in transportation improvements
  • Create a system for all ways of transportation to promote community safety, health, and resiliency
  • Reduce the number of trips taken via car by singular drivers
  • Reduce the number of total miles traveled by car (also a goal of Move San José, the Citywide Transportation Plan)
  • Identify new ways to improve public areas and create a strong sense of place

Plan Map

The plan area is roughly bounded by US-101, I-880, and SR 237. And major high-traffic roads like Montague Expressway, East Tasman Drive, and Zanker Road divide the area. The Guadalupe River and Coyote Creek lie to the west and east sides of the area. 

City Goals

Connect North San José will support ongoing City efforts. The plan will identify major problem areas and address transit infrastructure needs. There are several related City goals and efforts:

  • Climate Smart San José intends to reduce air pollution, save water, and improve the quality of life. The Climate Smart goals concern energy and water conservation, transportation, and local jobs. Connect North San José aims to make public transportation in the area easier and safer to use. This will reduce the number of total miles traveled by car.
  • Vision Zero aims to make roads safer for everyone. The goal is to reduce traffic crashes through road improvements and community education. Connect North San José supports Vision Zero by making all modes of travel safer.
  • Envision San José 2040's goal is to develop better roads and buildings to support the population rise. Connect North San José aims to make travel easier and focus on investments based on need.

Previous plans include the Better Bike Plan, the Move San José Access and Mobility Plan, and the Emerging Mobility Action Plan. These plans addressed car dependency and difficulties with biking, walking, and using transit. MTIPs build on this work and identify specific strategies at a local level. There are three completed MTIPs in San José: Downtown Transportation Plan, East San José MTIP (En Movimiento), and West San José MTIP.

Timeline

Connect North San José is a two-year planning process lasting from January 2024 to September 2025. Community engagement will take place throughout this time. The plan process is split into three phases:

  • Phase One: Existing Conditions, January 2024 to June 2024
    • Use the past to better understand the community socially, physically, and economically
    • Document existing land use and how the transportation network is working
    • Consider the future of available land use and transportation forecasts, as well as studying future trends
  • Phase Two: Technical Analysis, June 2024 to December 2024
    • Identify and evaluate necessary transportation projects. This will help support a shift to more people who can walk, bike, scoot, and/or take public transit.
  • Phase Three: Draft and Final Plan, December 2024 to April 2026
    • Develop a draft plan with an executive summary and recommendations for transportation improvements in North San José
    • Publish the Connect North San José Draft Plan for public comment
    • City Council to consider adoption of the Final Plan

Community Engagement

There were many opportunities for participation in this planning process. These activities occurred in three phases of this plan:

  • Phase One: Spoke with residents and workers to understand the area and existing challenges
  • Phase Two: Created design options with the community and rank potential projects
  • Phase Three: Received feedback on draft designs and potential projects

If you have any questions, please email project managers Peter Rice at peter.rice@sanjoseca.gov or Nick Frey at nicholas.frey@sanjoseca.gov.

If you would like to speak to someone about the Connect North San José plan in another language, please email Peter Rice at peter.rice@sanjoseca.gov.

Si desea hablar con alguien sobre este plan en un idioma distinto del inglés, envíe un correo electrónico a Peter Rice a peter.rice@sanjoseca.gov.

Nếu quí vị muốn nói chuyện với ai đó về kế hoạch này bằng một ngôn ngữ không phải tiếng Anh, vui lòng gửi email cho Peter Rice tại peter.rice@sanjoseca.gov.

如果您想與非英語人士討論 Connect North San José 計劃，請發送電子郵件至
peter.rice@sanjoseca.gov 聯繫 Peter Rice。

Find a full list of past community engagement events and accompanying resources on the Past Events page.

Resources

Review all five chapters of the draft Connect North San José plan:

  • Chapter 1
    • This chapter outlines the purpose and outcome of the Connect North San José Plan - why and how our transportation system must change to deliver: safer infrastructures for people on bike and on foot, more reliable transit, better connections to transit, and new policies and programs that make taking more trips by walking, biking, and transit easy and delightful.
  • Chapter 2
    • This chapter provides background on North San José and the cities evolving transportation infrastructure and built environment.
  • Chapter 3
    • This chapter describes the challenges facing North San José - what is working and what's not, both now and in the future.
  • Chapter 4
    • This chapter describes proposed improvements to the existing transportation improvements in two categories, near-term projects (the majority of the plan) and Big Moves - larger transformative projects require further study.
  • Chapter 5
    • This chapter describes strategies for getting the plan built, including funding options and opportunities to work with the developer community.

Feel free to take a look at learnings from interviews with community-based organizations, businesses, and neighborhood associations. These interviews were conducted in spring 2024.

Read the Connect North San José Existing Conditions Report.

Read the Connect North San José Draft Plan Extended Executive Summary.

Updates

Read our blog post on the Existing Conditions Report.

Funding

The project is funded by the Caltrans Sustainable Planning grant and local matching funds.