Posted by JB, a resident of the Portola Valley: Ladera neighborhood, on Dec 8, 2011 at 12:28 pm

Take the money, do the study, and if merited, implement one of the solutions.

This trail already exists. It's been there for years and years. It is used daily by walkers, runners, and some cyclists.

One of the things that this article doesn't mention is that the trail (and Alpine Road itself) is gradually being undermined by the creek. There are already a couple of places where there are barricades up. This erosion will continue and will eventually (and maybe soon) require expensive repairs to Alpine Road. As part of implementing any of these options (except the do nothing option), these creek repairs can be made.

If the money is turned down, the County will have to come up with other sources of funds to make these repairs.

Another thing pointed out by this article is that the residents of Stanford Weekend Acres have long waits to enter and leave their neighborhood. This has essentially nothing to do with the trail. It is occurring because of the 18,000 car trips a day.

Nobody has seen a detailed plan for the trail improvements yet because the investigations haven't been done yet, but I would bet that the County could come up with a good solution that would accommodate the trail and help the residents of Stanford Weekend Acres. For instance, how about putting a traffic light at the entrance to Stanford Weekend Acres and then having the multi-use trail cross the SWA entrance at the light (NOT crossing Alpine Road)? I've seen lots of places where trails cozy up to intersections. It seems pretty safe. This was just a thought... let's let the professionals do the studies and see what they come up with!!

Posted by Alpine Bicyclist, a resident of another community, on Dec 8, 2011 at 11:11 pm

Here is another option to consider:

Create a new road connection for all of Weekend Acres properties. Then place a signalized intersection at Stowe or Bishop for easier ingress and egress for all of these residents. Part of the connector road already exists as Homer Lane, Wildwood Lane and the Alpine Lane frontage road. Wildwood Lane to Stowe appears to have enough right-of-way for another short frontage road. To complete it, a modified driveway around a single property at the end of Homer Lane could provide the connection between Homer Lane and Wildwood Lane. I don't think it would require any existing structures to be removed. It would be safer for commuters on Alpine Road, trail users and the residents of Weekend Acres.

The existing trail is pretty decent between Arastradero and 280 and then from Rural Lane all the way to Stock Farm Road into Stanford. It would be a real shame to see this generous offer tossed away. I'm just a recreational user of this right-of-way. I'd like to see it improved for everyone's safety.