B737 PLT MISTAKES ROADWAY FOR TXWY AT SJC.

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WE WERE GIVEN TAXI OUT INSTRUCTIONS FROM TERMINAL C AT SJC TO RWY 12R VIA TXWY Z. WHILE TAXIING OUT; THE RELATIVELY NEW FO WAS FINISHING HIS TAXI OUT DUTIES AND I WAS DEVOTING MY ATTENTION TO TAXIING AND PERIODICALLY REVIEWING THE ARPT/TXWY DIAGRAM PAGE SINCE I'D NEVER TAXIED TO THIS RWY BEFORE. WHEN I LOOKED AHEAD; I DIDN'T SEE WHERE THE HARD SURFACE ENDED AT TXWY Z. SO I CONTINUED TAXIING UNTIL I CAME TO A DIMLY LIT HOLD SHORT SIGN. I STOPPED THE ACFT AND THEN REALIZED WE HAD TAXIED SLIGHTLY PAST TXWY K. WHAT CONFUSED ME WAS THE HARD SURFACE OF TXWY Z CONTINUES TO THE NW PAST TXWY K ALL THE WAY TO A RECTANGULAR SHAPE PAD ON THE N SIDE OF THE FIELD. THIS DOES NOT AGREE WITH THE ARPT DIAGRAM WHICH SHOWS THE PAVEMENT ENDING SLIGHTLY PAST TXWY K. I WAS COUNTING ON SEEING THE END OF TXWY Z AND TURNING BEFORE THAT POINT. SINCE I NEVER SAW THE END OF THE HARD SURFACE; I MISSED THE TURN. FORTUNATELY; I STOPPED AT THE HOLD SHORT SIGN ON TXWY Z. UNFORTUNATELY; WE WERE IN A POS WHICH WE COULDN'T MAKE A 180 DEG TURN TO GET BACK TO TXWY Z/K INTXN. WE DID THE SMART THING AND CALLED FOR A TUG TO PUSH US BACK A FEW FT SO WE COULD TURN L ON TXWY K. LESSONS LEARNED: USE ALL AVAILABLE RESOURCES FOR TAXI AT UNFAMILIAR/NEW ARPTS TO DETERMINE YOUR ROUTE. MAKE SURE THE FO IS FOLLOWING/DOUBLE CHECKING YOUR TAXI PROGRESS. IF NEEDED; ASK FOR A 'PROGRESSIVE TAXI' OR GND CTL HELP. ADVICE FOR SJC ARPT DIAGRAM PAGE: SHOW THE CORRECT DEPICTION OF HARD SURFACE CONTINUING ON TXWY Z TO THE N PAD WITH A NOTE STATING THIS IS NOT A TXWY N OF TXWY K. ADVICE FOR SJC ARPT: MAKE THE HOLD SHORT SIGN AT THE END OF TXWY Z BIGGER AND BRIGHTER AND PLACE IT FURTHER S ON TXWY Z SO AN ACFT STILL HAS TIME TO REACT AND MAKE A TURN AFTER SEEING IT. WHERE IT SITS NOW; IT PLACES CREWS AT A DEAD END. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR REVEALED THAT THE TAXI CLRNC GIVEN WAS A CLRNC TO THE RWY WITHOUT ANY DIRECTION AS TO THE ROUTE TO BE TAKEN. TXWY Z ENDS AT THE END OF THE TERMINAL RAMP WITH A SVC ROAD CONTINUING ON TO THE FREIGHT RAMP THAT CAN BE SEEN IN THE DISTANCE. THERE ARE INADEQUATE DIRECTIONAL SIGNS INDICATING THAT A TURN IS NEEDED TO PROCEED TO THE RWY WHEN YOU CAN SEE ACFT STRAIGHT AHEAD ON THE FREIGHT RAMP AND WHAT APPEARS TO BE A TXWY AHEAD. CONSTRUCTION IS IN PROGRESS AT THE ARPT BUT THE NONSTANDARD SIGNS IN USE APPEAR TO BE PERMANENT AND NOT INVOLVED WITH CONSTRUCTION OR A TEMPORARY CONDITION.