I looked at the Trail Signs on Alpine Trail in Portola Valley as they didn't seem to be very effective at preventing cyclists on sections of the trail where bikes are prohibited.

1. TRAIL SIGNS
A Look At Alpine Trail
Angela Hey
amhey@heymash.com
650-851-2542
October 2020

2. OUTLINE
 Background and Purpose
 Potential Goals & Assumptions
 Challenges
 AlpineTrail
 Go down the trail looking at signs
 Near Willowbrook start
 PV Ranch Fire Road
 IndianCrossing
 Alpine & Portola Road Junction
 LosTrancos Road
 Alpine HillsCrosswalk
 Conclusions

3. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
 Mountain Bike popularity has changed trail use
 Almost every time I’ve hiked on the trails I see a bicycle on a trail marked No Bikes
 I attended theTrails Committee meetings by Zoom
 Members were going to walkAlpineTrail where bikes have been riding frequently on
sections forbidding bikes
 I decided to do my own analysis from the viewpoint of a cyclist
 Purpose
 Initially, to see what signage would be useful – where it works, where it doesn’t
 After looking at a report commissioned by SPUR.ORG entitled “Model Places –
Envisioning a future BayArea with Room andOpportunity for Everyone” that gives a 50-
year outlook – this might be part of a vision for what we would want trails and pathways
to look like in 50 years time so they connect better with crosswalks.

4. POTENTIAL GOALS
 To EncourageWalking and Hiking byTown Residents
 To Discourage Cycling on ProhibitedTrails
 To Consider ChangingTrail Permissions SoThere’s a Circuit or Routes for Mountain
Bikers
 This is a long term goal which may require new routes or a “Terrain Park” like ski resorts
have to separate those that like bumps and features from regular skiers and
snowboarders

5. CHALLENGE - NO UP ARROWS ON PV TOWN SIGNS
Portola Valley Town Sign Midpeninsula Open Space Signs
• Horizontal
arrows mean it
is hard for a sign
to “point ahead”
so signs tend to
show
information
alongside a trail
rather than
facing the user.
• Multidirectional arrows
• Clear no biking sign – larger than PV
signs

6. CHALLENGE – HOW DO VISITORS KNOW
WHERE TO BIKE?
 Town trail map
 Do we need maps like PV Ranch has for Coal Mine Ridge after COVID?
 QR Codes
 Route signs – see next slide
 Current PV trail signs revised

7. CHALLENGE – SIGNAGE FOR ROUTES
US Bike Route Signs for Use on Roads
Do we need a rural equivalent signage and plan for routes for mountain bikes in PortolaValley long term?
There are plans for Bay to Sea routes and one is up old Alpine through Russian Ridge.
How do we make the trail a reality?

8. CHALLENGE – GOOGLE MAPS DISAGREES
• Go to Google Maps
• Turn on the Cycling Layer
• Solid green line on AlpineTrail
• Indicates BikeTrail
• It is solid green from Alpine
Hills
to Indian Crossing
• It is dotted from Indian
Crossing toTrailhead

9. ALPINE TRAIL
 Starting atWillowbrook down to the crosswalk at Alpine Hills – below that the
trail is paved and OK for bicycles.
 Looking atTrail Signs
 Are they in the right place?
 Do cyclists see them?
 Will better signs make a difference?
 Motivation
 Every time I’ve walked the trails since COVID, except once, I’ve seen a bike on a trail
where it is not meant to be
 Inevitably, cyclist says “I didn’t know you couldn’t bike here”
 A walkable, bikeable community is desirable and biking paths are not continuous

10. ALPINE TRAIL TRAILHEAD NEAR
WILLOWBROOK
 The start of AlpineTrail nearWillowbrook
 Signage is clear, but inconsistent
 Can you bring a dog here?
 NO says the top sign
 YES says the lower sign
 The larger icons for NO DOGS and NO BIKES are
clearer on the top sign
 I’ve seen both bikes and dogs on the trail.
 Maps removed for COVID – so used as a trash bin
 Do we want trash bins at the end of the trail – or
would they be a fire hazard (in London many
trash bins were removed so people wouldn’t set
them alight with cigarette ends or intentionally)?

11. BETWEEN TRAILHEAD AND PV RANCH FIRE
ROAD
• The metal sign isn’t at the beginning of the trail – in a very strange
location as it doesn’t warn people at the beginning of the trail
• With good wooden lower signs do we need to have this sign? Historic?
• Do we move it closer to the trail section start at the Fire Road for PV Ranch?
• No mention of bicycles on sign - or do we want bicycles on the trail here?

12. PORTOLA VALLEY RANCH FIRE ROAD AREA
Looking SW towards the hills
• A cyclist leaving PV Ranch Fire Road or Entering from
Alpine Road to head SW on Alpine Trail sees no signs, a
wide trail with bike tire marks
Possible Remedy
Put a wooden sign
here that says no
bikes

13. PORTOLA VALLEY RANCH FIRE ROAD AREA
Looking NE towards Corte Madera
• On a side parallel
to the trail are trail
directions which a
cyclist never sees
• A cyclist sees this sign on entering the trail
• Deer Path Trail goes into PV ranch
Recommended
Action
• Need to design a sign with
up arrows like on Windy
Hill

14. SAFETY: SIGN WAS MOVED, SO BRANCHES
 Riders were jumping off the trail on to
Alpine Road
 1. Bike should not be on this part of
the trail
 2. It is a very dangerous jump
 3.The sign kept being moved
 4. Branches are now helping block the
way

15. INDIAN CROSSING (PV RANCH ENTRANCE)
LOOKING UPHILL
 Trail changes from allowing bikes to
NO BIKES
 There is no sign – so how do people
know?
 Bikers like to jump off the steps too –
a hazard

16. INDIAN CROSSING LOOKING DOWNHILL
Cyclists can bike here – sign is away from the trail
entrance – but it may not matter as it is near school trail
Trail has no restrictions so sign is fine

17. SWEET SPRINGS TRAIL JUNCTION (PV
RANCH LOWER ENTRANCE)
 Looking uphill – sign has seen
better days – not needed now?
Looking downhill – sign is hidden on Sweet SpringsTrail start – this
is what cyclists sees – sign is not so important here as bikes are
allowed. See next slide – user could think it means no bikes if they
see the sign at all.

18. AT SWEET SPRINGS TRAIL – PV RANCH 2ND
ENTRANCE – GOING DOWNHILL
• Cyclist going downhill sees sign on the left
• Looks likeAlpineTrail says NO BIKES
• Bikes can go for Safe RoutesTo School
on AlpineTrail so sign appears to
conflict for a biker
• Larger bike sign is useful if it is in an
appropriate place on the right trail –
facing the biker
• It means Sweet SpringsTrail has NO
BIKES
• Parallel to the trail is sign on the right –
same post
• Cyclist doesn’t see this sign

19. ALPINE & PORTOLA ROAD JUNCTION
 Looking uphill –bikes are allowed
 No sign – could have Safe Routes
To School sign maybe?
• Looking downhill – bikes are not allowed, but it’s hard for a biker
to see this
• Portola Road part of sign is illegible, other part is hard to see and
in conflict - says NO BIKES uphill – but they can go there

20. LOS TRANCOS
Looking Uphill – NO BIKES – but no sign
Looking Downhill – Cyclist cannot see sign easily – needs an
arrow pointing up for Alpine Trail. Alpine Trail is on Road Side of
Sign – not Trail Side
Tire tracks give
hint to rider -
cycling may be
OK

21. CROSSWALK AT ALPINE HILLS
• This is where the trail starts that
has NO BIKES
• The paved trail allows bikes and
crossesAlpine Road at the
Crosswalk
• Cyclists come up the paved trail
from Arastradero to Alpine Hills
and keep cycling on the trail here –
it never says NO BIKES

22. CREST PARK DRIVE – JUST BELOW ALPINE
HILLS TENNIS CLUB
• Biking is allowed here so OK to have no
signs
• There is a metal post for future use if ever
we needed Bike Route Signs – e.g. Bay to
OceanTrail
Looking down AlpineTrail Looking up AlpineTrail

23. CONCLUSIONS
 Not having Up Arrows on signs makes it difficult to put signs facing cyclists
 In one or two places the larger NO BIKES sign may be useful on a wooden post
 Are the metal signs really needed if you put clear wooden signs?
 Consider whether long term a route is needed – could have brown signs to show
routes for Mountain Bikes – County Bike Plan is in process
 Maybe get a grant for redoing the signs – consider other parts of PV too to make
paths, crosswalks, town map align
 Should bikes be allowed the entire length of AlpineTrail
 Timesharing – some say it won’t work, but it works on the Golden Gate Bridge –
bikes on weekends and after 4 pm