Many Silicon Valley jobs, too few new homes create traffic nightmare in Fremont

ByJennifer Olney KGO logo
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Many Silicon Valley jobs, too few new homes create traffic nightmare in Fremont
Just like communities all over the Bay Area, Fremont residents continue to list bad traffic as one of their top concerns.

FREMONT, Calif. (KGO) -- Just like communities all over the Bay Area, Fremont residents continue to list bad traffic as one of their top concerns.

Fremont's constant traffic jams are a daily reminder of one of the Bay Area's biggest problems: the number of new jobs and the number of new homes are completely out of balance.

Building a Better Bay Area: Fremont

A city report details how that imbalance leaves Fremont caught in the crosshairs.

The report shows from 2014 to 2018 Silicon Valley created 152,000 new jobs, but only 28,000 new housing units.

RELATED: Navigating through the politics of Fremont traffic

Most of the new jobs are on the Peninsula and in the South Bay, but most of the available housing is in the East Bay, Tri-Valley and Central Valley.

Fremont is in the middle, along three major commute routes, Interstates 880 and 680 and State Route 84. That means huge numbers of commuters are driving to and from work right through Fremont every day, creating a traffic nightmare on both freeways and city streets.

See more stories and videos about Building a Better Bay Area here.