The Court sais Stanford doesn't need this roadway or bridge. And our General Plan says "No" to development that does not offer the City a net benefit. Let's not widen the road or bridge until we see that "net benefit".
Judge Piak in his ruling in favor of the Stanford Land Management Company did not fault Menlo Park's position, however, he ruled that Palo Alto, as the lead agency, had sufficient information to make their decision to approve the Sand Hill Projects. The judge also noted in his ruling that the bridge and roadway section of the project in Menlo Park were not essential for the success of these projects. And that Stanford had other roadway alternatives they could pursue. The Santa Clara County GUP currently under study also recommends Stanford study other roadway alternatives. The Stanford Land Management Company appears not to be in any hurry to widen the roadway or the bridge as they have offered 10 million dollars for these roadway and bridge modifications for a 10 year period. The Menlo Park Council has authorized a traffic study to update the 1996 traffic data to improve their understanding of the traffic impacts for these projects that first led to the law suit. The 1996 traffic study showed an additional 25,000 cars per day on Sand Hill Road, 10,000 more cars on El Camino Real and 15,000 more cars a day on the Alameda. A recent study of the intersection of Sand Hill and Santa Cruz showed traffic would take between 5 minutes to 5 minutes and 10 seconds with the roadway widened or without the roadway widened. The widening of the roadway may give some temporary relief but it will be short lived when Stanfords 10 year plan is realized. It is the intersection that controls the flow of traffic, not the widening of the roadway alone. Stanford needs to take the responsibility to share some of their traffic on their internal road system and look to improving Campus West Drive and Alpine Roads. Lets not rush... I believe there are alternatives that the Stanford Land Management Company could pursue that would further mitigate the expected traffic impacts to menlo Park from the widening of the roadway and the bridge. Lets explore what they are.
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