Daily commute routes through the Santa Cruz mountains? (Saratoga, Boulder Creek: home, to buy)

[Oukachiru]

Hi all,

Looking for some advice about commuting through the Santa Cruz mountains.

We're looking to buy a home in Brookdale (just north of Felton, south of Boulder Creek) and would like to know a little about traffic patterns from Santa Cruz locals.

We would be commuting up into the east bay, so our choices are:

1. S on 9, across Mt Hermon Rd to 17 N. This is the standard route from what I understand, but I hear 17 is a madhouse during morning commute hours, and reading some of the threads about 17 here makes it seem rather dangerous. That and from Brookdale you have to travel 10 minutes down south and east before meeting up with 17 N.

2. S on 9, across Mt Hermon Rd to E Zayante Road (runs through the towns of Olympia and Zayante), to a variety of choices that take you to 35 E and then 17 N (coming in just south of Redwood Estates and having bypassed most of 17 at this point). The roads look pretty twisted near where things meet up with 35, so not sure if this is really a viable option.

3. N on 9, across Bear Creek Road to 17 N. We tried this, it was a *very* challenging drive and you still end up on 17. Seems excessively dangerous to do on a daily basis, more so than braving 17 I suspect.

4. N on 9 until it turns into Saratoga Ave. This seems like it might be OK, at least until 9 turns into Big Basin Way, at which point it looks to get tricky in a few spots.

Various direction sites give the difference in travel time for all 4 routes to be within 10 minutes of each other. I find this doubtful so I'd love to hear from locals.

The real question for me is, is 9 N in the mornings a viable option, or is it better to just grit my teeth and get over to 17? If so, how feasible is the Zayante Road option?

[MAinCA]

Choice 1 or 3 are your best options. I think most people in SLV take Hwy 9 to 17. You get used to the road after time. The commute is so much more tolerable than it used to be, probably due to loss of jobs, etc. It doesn't seem as if there are as many accidents as there used to be either.