At last, key double intersection reopens At last, key double intersection reopens (November 09, 2005)

** New roadway bears little resemblance to its narrow, traffic-choked and perilous former self.

By Andrea Gemmet

Almanac Staff Writer

It's been a long wait for Ladera residents who were used to zipping down Alpine Road to get to Menlo Park, but now the wait is over.

The major construction project that closed the key double intersection of Junipero Serra Boulevard/Alpine Road and Santa Cruz Avenue/Sand Hill Road is finished and the road reopened just before noon on Friday, November 4.

The road had been closed since March, forcing drivers to detour through the Stanford campus or bypass the whole mess by taking Interstate 280 from Alpine Road to Sand Hill Road.

A brief ceremony featuring Stanford University and Menlo Park city officials, red balloons and ribbon-cutting, complete with giant scissors, marked the road's reopening.

"Nobody is happier that it's done than I am," said Stanford University Provost John Etchemendi, whose house directly overlooks the intersection.

The widened four-lane roadway, which includes bike lanes and a walking path that runs below the substantial, cantilevered support wall, is the final major project in the Menlo Park Roadway Improvement Project, which began in April of 2004.

Stanford paid for the work as part of the traffic improvements required in order to build its Sand Hill Road Projects, which include the Stanford West apartment complex, expansion of the shopping center, the Classic Residences senior housing, and widening Sand Hill Road and connecting it with El Camino Real.

"I think it's truly a happy day for everyone involved," said Menlo Park Mayor Mickie Winkler.

Wide, with good visibility and smoothly paved, the refurbished roadway bears little resemblance to its narrow, traffic-choked and perilous former self.

Bicyclists no longer have to share lanes with southbound cars careering around the curve of Santa Cruz Avenue, inches from the retaining wall.

Pedestrians can remove themselves entirely by taking the path that runs below the road and skirts the Stanford golf course.

"This is a big deal for us," said Ann Lambrecht, a resident of nearby Stanford Avenue, who was walking with neighbor Chloe Scott. "It's hard to see things change and become urbanized," she said, but she agreed with Ms. Scott's assessment of the finished project: "I think they did a fantastic job."

E-mail a friend a link to this story.