Stanford not pushing trail along Alpine Road -- yet Stanford not pushing trail along Alpine Road -- yet (March 02, 2005)

By Marion Softky

Almanac Staff Writer

Residents of Ladera are nervous. They have observed little pink flags, and work crews surveying and drilling test holes in the soil along the bike trail between Alpine Road and Los Trancos Creek.

They fear Stanford is moving ahead with its plans to build a regional, multi-use trail along the busy highway from Junipero Serra Boulevard to Arastradero Road.

Not to worry, said Jean McCown, Stanford's director of community relations. The university is doing technical investigations to determine what kind of project is feasible to improve the Alpine Trail. "There is no change in status in San Mateo County," she said.

The running controversy on Stanford's new trails dates back to 2000 when the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved a general use permit for Stanford's future expansion. In exchange for permission to add nearly 5 million square feet of new building on campus, the county required the university to build two trails: one around the south and east of campus, and one around the north and west.

While trail proponents envisioned recreational trails crossing Stanford's lands, the university insisted it agreed to trails along the perimeter.

In the case of the north and west trail -- designated C1 -- Stanford has refused to run the trail across its open lands above Los Trancos Creek, and insisted on rebuilding and widening the existing bike trail along Alpine Road, which is in San Mateo County.

A similar controversy over the alignment of the "S1" trail in Santa Clara County has dominated the debate so far. The Santa Clara Board of Supervisors will rule late this spring on whether to allow Stanford to build a trail in the vicinity of Page Mill Road instead of over interior lands.

Until this conflict is resolved, plans for the Alpine Road trail are officially on hold -- except for "technical investigations" and perhaps planning.

Before Stanford can build a trail in San Mateo County -- instead of over its own open lands in Santa Clara County -- it must get permission from San Mateo County and Portola Valley, which have jurisdiction over the proposed alignment.

In the past, Stanford has proposed a 12-foot wide trail, with 2-foot shoulders, along Alpine Road. In places, it has suggested it would move Alpine Road to make room for the full trail width along the creek.

Near Ladera, less that 8 feet separates the eroding creek from busy highway lanes in several places. Residents worry about earlier plans that showed Alpine Road shifted toward the parking lot of the shopping center, with some landscaping eliminated.

Ms. McCown reiterated that Stanford has no immediate plans for the Alpine trail. "There is nothing on any nearby horizon," she said.

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