Today I was e-mailed the notice of closure of the Sandhill/Santa
Cruz/Junipero Serra intersection. I trust that this will be handled in
a more efficient way than the frequent closures during the past year.
(None of which were revealed during the planning process)

Last Friday I received a notice of shut down for that weekend and also
saw roadside banners announcing this. On Saturday I tried to return
from Santa Cruz Avenue to Alpine just before 6 p.m. (At which the
workers were nowhere near complete, despite the 6 p.m. cutoff time) I
took the detour (indicated by the signs and the announcements) via
Stanford - only to find that, arriving back at the Alpine intersection,
ALPINE ROAD was totally blocked off! There were absolutely no signs to
indicate this anywhere on my route and it was dark. I was told that the
only route back to my house on Alpine (a couple of blocks away) was to
drive back to Sandhill Road, go to I-280 and backtrack down Alpine Road!
The work appeared to go on way past 6p.m. since construction noise was
audible.

During the past few weeks the intersection has been blocked (often
starting just before rush hour), the traffic lights have gone out
causing massive back-ups and grid lock at the Sand Hill and Alpine
intersections, lanes have been closed off when no one was working in
them and PG&E vehicles have been parked so that they block traffic.
Only on one occasion to my observation were Menlo Park Police Officers
present to help.

The announcements have often been flat out wrong or absent. During the
planning processes Stanford boasted that it would have adequate public
outreach and notification and would address problems caused by their
construction. This has not occurred. The few people living along
Sandhill Road across from the Golf Course will be receiving windfall
benefits in the form of increased property values accruing from the
construction. Those few hundred of us living along Alpine Road were not
even consulted during the planning process and certainly have received
no consideration from the project management. When the intersection is
closed off as it has frequently been, we get no mail service. During
back ups (which are also frequent) the garbage collection is affected,
as are all other delivery systems.

The school bus stops at Stowe Lane. Traffic is often so impatient
because of the construction related back ups that vehicles ignore the
flashing lights and pass the bus. Traffic also makes frequent U-turns
between the blind corners.

The recent notice fails to address issues related to mail delivery,
garbage, school buses, pedestrian/bike routes, notices to be posted at
I-280, sheriff patrols or any of the issues relevant to those of us
living on Alpine. This is inexcusable. Janet Davis
Received on Mon Jan 24 17:44:08 2005