Posted by Joseph E. Davis, a resident of the Woodside: Emerald Hills neighborhood, on Sep 13, 2011 at 9:26 am

A hiking trail that is effectively a sidewalk on a major road is really not much of a hiking trail. Stanford got away with a ridiculous proposal on this one.

Posted by PV resident, a resident of the Portola Valley: Central Portola Valley neighborhood, on Sep 13, 2011 at 12:38 pm

A biking and hiking and walking trail that greatly improves what is there today, not paid for by public funds, is an excellent proposal. Stanford should be commended and the local goverments should take advantage.

Posted by sidewalk, a resident of the Menlo Park: Stanford Hills neighborhood, on Sep 13, 2011 at 1:53 pm

The proposed design is too narrow and has too poor sightlines around corners to be safe for bicycling (even very slow bicycling). Call it a sidewalk instead of a trail and everyone will be happy.

Posted by Me, a resident of the Portola Valley: Ladera neighborhood, on Sep 13, 2011 at 5:39 pm

They should move Alpine Road to the west, into the hillside, which would move the roadway farther away from the neighbors in Weekend Acres. It would also allow for more space for a hiking trail, and make the bike lanes along Alpine Rd. much safer for everyone. Look at the lanes as they are now that they've been restriped - they don't leave much room in places for bikes and cars to peacefully coexist on that road.

Stanford did a fantastic job reconfiguring the intersection at Sand Hill/Santa Cruz/Junipero Serra/Alpine. They can do the same for all of Alpine Rd.

Posted by US, a resident of the Portola Valley: Ladera neighborhood, on Sep 13, 2011 at 6:47 pm

The current amount is 10.2 million dollars because it includes the cost of making the bad turn in front of Weekend Acres safer for bikes doing the "Loop", cars, Weekend Acres residents AND those on the recreational trail. There's no way San Mateo will ever pay to cut back the hill, and no reason Stanford would ever have to let their property be hacked into by San Mateo. Hopefully we can make it safe to park for hiking up the back of the "Dish" at the same time.

Sidewalk? Hardly. What they should do it remove the SIDEWALK on the north side of Alpine Road underneath 280 so perhaps no more bicyclists will die there.

Stanford will SPEND money in San Mateo. We're going to turn down money so that we can all pay for these needed changes later? Let's make ALPINE ROAD SAFE!! Perhaps San Mateo will use this as a good time to reduce the speed to 35 mph!!

I'm sure that there are still people miffed that they can't hike through Stanford to the foothills, but that decision has been decided. You can still hike on their property, but only according to their rules. THIS path would be used by more people than any hiking trail would have been used. Getting to the foothill trails by bike will be a safe breeze.