Thumbs up for expressway extension

**Extension would allow Dumbarton Bridge traffic to take Bayfront to Woodside Road.
By JULIE RAWE

The Menlo Park City Council has tentatively endorsed a two-mile extension of the Bayfront Expressway that would allow Dumbarton Bridge traffic to take the expressway to Woodside Road.
The San Mateo County Transportation Authority has proposed building a new four-lane highway along the southern edge of the salt ponds from Marsh Road to the intersection of Woodside Road and U.S. 101. The project is expected to cost $57 million, said Program Manager Edgar Ugarte.
Although Redwood City officials did not say they were against the project, the city's engineering manager, Joel Patterson, asked: "Why add this traffic to Woodside Road when Woodside Road is already at a stand-still?"
In addition to traffic concerns, Redwood City has raised questions about the environmental impact of building a road over wetlands, and the effect on residential areas east of U.S. 101.
On March 31 the Menlo Park City Council unanimously approved the project after rejecting Councilman Steve Schmidt's request to postpone voting on the proposed extension until Redwood City is satisfied with the plans.
"We are shifting a problem from Willow and Marsh roads to Redwood City," Mr. Schmidt said. "We're fighting with Palo Alto and Stanford for doing the same thing to us," he said, referring to the Sand Hill Road lawsuit.
Councilwoman Bernie Valencia disagreed, saying, "The traffic is already impacting Redwood City, it's just impacting Menlo Park first."
Mr. Ugarte said the county plans to improve the interchange of Woodside Road and U.S. 101 once the Bayfront Expressway extension is in place. He explained that reversing this project sequence would cost $200 million due to alignment problems.
The Transportation Authority, which is scheduled to vote on the proposed Bayfront extension in May, has received feedback from city officials in Menlo Park and Redwood City and will make its next presentation to the Atherton City Council on April 15. The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at 94 Ashfield Road.
If approved, the project will require almost a decade of studies and acquisitions before construction can begin.
A county-wide, half-cent sale tax for transportation projects, instituted in 1988, has generated $16 million for the proposed Bayfront extension, but additional funding has not been secured, said Rita Haskin of the Transportation Authority.
Traffic lights

Plans for the Bayfront extension include three new traffic lights and one new street to provide expressway access for residents and workers sandwiched between the extension and U.S. 101.

A traffic light would be installed where Haven Avenue intersects the proposed extension, and a second light would be placed approximately 1,500 feet west of that intersection to slow traffic, Mr. Ugarte said.

A third traffic light and a new through-street connecting the expressway and U.S. 101 would be placed roughly 1,200 feet east of the Woodside Road interchange.

Bikers and businessmen

As business representatives from the Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce to Raychem Corp. champion the proposal they say will facilitate growth in the industrial parks north of the Bayshore Freeway, bicyclists are concerned that the extension will further complicate an already dangerous intersection at Woodside Road and Seaport Boulevard.

The Menlo Park Bicycle Commission approved the proposed extension in February "with lots of reservations," Commissioner Robert Cronin told the council last week. He described the proposed bike paths as "inconvenient and hazardous" with the current plans calling for cyclists to weave back and forth across the expressway.

Mr. Ugarte said planners would work with the cyclists to resolve these issues.