SR-17 Los Gatos to Patchen Pass Summit
At a glance: Graded 75 out of 100 (Tier 3: High-Speed Merge & Technical Canyon) across 8.7 miles in Santa Cruz Mountains. High-volume divided mountain highway combining commuter speeds with decreasing-radius curves and wet-pavement crash clusters.
Why this corridor sits in Tier 3
As the primary commuter link between Silicon Valley and Santa Cruz County, SR-17 carries freeway-level daily traffic across steep, forested canyon walls. Concrete median barriers prevent head-on crossover but restrict forward sightlines around decreasing-radius bends such as Moody Curve and Lexington Reservoir, particularly on wet winter pavement.
Key roadway traits
- 1,200+ ft elevation climb
- Wet-surface braking hotspots
- Concrete median barrier curves
Four-factor geometric & crash decomposition
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Connected highway & local crash profiles
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Other Tier 3 California corridors
Methodology & interpretation limits
Complexity Index combines horizontal curvature, sustained elevation grade, speed-transition demand, and 12-month historical reported crash concentration per corridor mile. Counts describe observational public records unadjusted for daily traffic volume and do not represent driving safety advice. Missing-coordinate collision records in surrounding cities are reported separately in live buffered queries and are never plotted at synthetic coordinates.
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