Photo courtesy of Ida Allario Etzkorn
In 1959, town leaders rode in a parade celebrating the opening of Highway 17. The line of vehicles
going from Santa Cruz Avenue toward the new highway represents the history of transportation
from horse-drawn buggy to modern automobile.
'We are a town divided by an iron curtain of automobiles," said Los Gatos Mayor Charles K. Gamble (1952-54), paraphrasing Winston Churchill's comment about Eastern Europe in a speech before legislators in Sacramento.
Gamble was referring to miles of slowed traffic coming into Los Gatos and the glut of autos at the intersection of Main Street and Santa Cruz Avenue. These traffic jams occurred on warm weekends, when it seemed as if all of Northern California came through town. Local police worked in shifts, directing autos southward to a winding two-lane mountain road leading to Monterey Bay and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
Sun- and fun-seekers from both sides of San Francisco Bay funnelled through Saratoga on the west and San Jose and Campbell on the east. It was reported that autos coming through Saratoga were backed up as far north as Cupertino, and eastside traffic was slowed at Campbell and poked along Bascom Avenue and into San Jose Avenue (now Los Gatos Boulevard) before winding down onto Main Street and across the old three-arch Main Street Bridge.
Some motorists crowding through Los Gatos knew of picnic spots in the mountains to their liking. Others stopped in town on their way home to eat at places like the Park Cafe, Los Gatos Grill and Eatmore Creamery.
The traffic woes Gamble experienced during his years as mayor were only portents of things to come. Today's photograph, loaned by Ida Allario Etzkorn, shows the leaders in a parade commemorating the 1959 opening of Highway 17. Various vehicles are heading toward the new highway and a toll gate at the intersection of Santa Cruz Avenue and Main Street. The line of vehicles represents the history of transportation from horse-drawn buggy to modern automobile.
That's the old Bank of America building in the background, which now houses the Twig gallery.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, March 20, 1996.
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