Posted by LLBB, a resident of the Portola Valley: Ladera neighborhood, on Jul 13, 2010 at 2:47 pm

A signal has been needed for years at Page Mill Road and the Highway 280 exits, but not at Alpine, at least not at current traffic volumn. As for regulating traffic along Alpine Road, if the San Mateo County Sheriff would just enforce the speed limit in the county area, the stretch of Alpine between Highway 280 and La Mesa Drive (Ladera), safety for all would be greatly improved. We've been asking for speed enforcement for years, but the County evidently does not earmark funds for speed control the way the Town of Portola Valley does. We need enforcement more than a we need a traffic light.

Posted by Frances, a resident of the Portola Valley: Ladera neighborhood, on Jul 13, 2010 at 8:53 pm

Aha! I wondered why I was suddenly seeing traffic cops at 280 and Alpine Rd. Stanford wants to expand, and Stanford must get what it want--neighbors be damned.

Posted by LLBB, a resident of the Portola Valley: Ladera neighborhood, on Jul 14, 2010 at 10:01 am

Yes, the evening back-up along Alpine between Sand Hill and Highway 280 is a fine argument as to why a stop light is indeed needed.

Posted by Gunther Steinberg, a resident of the Portola Valley: Ladera neighborhood, on Jul 14, 2010 at 2:32 pm

Stanford traffic is getting back to some of its worst levels. This morning, Junipero Serra was solid with cars between the entrance to Stanford and Alpine Road, with more cars stacked on the north side of the intersections. The solution to Stanford's traffic is going to be a separate intersection from 280 North and South to access Stanford across their golf course and into the campus, leaving the surface streets to normal non-Stanford traffic.

Alpine Road is solid in the evening commute times too, which leaves one no way to get home westbound on Alpine.

While Stanford finally fixed the Sand Hill Santa Cruz intersection after years of too much traffic and holdups there, because of their endless expansion, they need to step up much more quickly before the local residents get really upset. But then they have the deep pockets and much too much influence on the political bodies that can put pressure on them.