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Letter: Wrong solution for Junipero Serra

So, cash-strapped Santa Clara County is to spend $1.5 million to make Junipero Serra Boulevard nicer for about six Stanford faculty residences, forcing traffic onto other routes. That must be gratifying to non-Stanford residents of the county.

If 90 percent of people exceed a speed limit, then that speed limit is not reasonable: it used to be 55 mph, and 45 mph is a safe speed under most conditions. Also it is not clear where the accidents cited occurred, nor why the College Terrace residents have any stake in the change.

At least 90 percent of the traffic on Junipero Serra is Stanford-related. However, since Stanford traffic has blocked most nearby roads, Junipero Serra is West Menlo Park's main access to Palo Alto. If the process were truly multi-jurisdictional, San Mateo County would have been involved in the planning.

Things that do need to be fixed are for the county to abide by the posted signs that deny access to large trucks along the stretch between Alpine and Page Mill roads; and alter the bike diversion near Campus Drive West. Virtually no one uses it, so vehicular traffic headed to Menlo Park has to cross over the yellow line to avoid cyclists, thus imperiling themselves.

Other improvements needed: trim the vegetation that is a hazard to cyclists; remove debris and landslide material from the bike lane; and construct a decent pedestrian path from Santa Cruz Avenue to Campus Drive so that Stanford people can walk safely to and from campus.

This is just another example of Stanford insulating itself from problems it causes, and shifting them to other neighborhoods.

Janet Davis, 2455 Alpine Road, Menlo Park