02/23/93

CONTACT: Stanford University News Service (650) 723-2558

Major road project to last through summer near Medical Center

STANFORD -- A major roadway improvement project is scheduled to begin March 1 near the Stanford University Medical Center, and motorists who frequent the area should take alternate routes or be prepared for delays and detours.

Quarry Road is scheduled to be widened during this project, and Welch Road at Pasteur Drive will be widened and signals will be added, according to Michael Kuntz, project manager with the Stanford department of Facilities Project Management.

The roadway improvements are required as a result of university development. The improvements will be financed and managed by Stanford, but when completed they will be turned over to the city of Palo Alto for operation and maintenance (the sections in question are part of the city roadway system).

Stanford has awarded a contract to Granite Construction Co. for the improvements, which are scheduled to be completed by July 31.

At Welch Road and Pasteur Drive, the impact is expected to relatively minimal, Kuntz said. The exception is for southbound Welch Road traffic during the evening commute; the right-turn pocket will not be accessible for about one month during the construction period.

Along Quarry Road, the impact is expected to be much more severe. Starting the week of March 8, a section of Quarry Road (from the parking lot entrance that used to be Blake Wilbur Drive to Arboretum Road) will be reduced to one lane in each direction. Left turns will be prohibited in and out of the three driveways for the Stanford Shopping Center and Stanford Barn, located between Welch and Arboretum roads; and left turns will be prohibited from northbound Quarry Road to westbound Arboretum Road (toward Sand Hill Road)

In addition, the entrance to the Quarry Road parking lot, where many Hospital employees park, will be closed. The only access to this lot will be from the Blake Wilbur Drive entrance.

When completed, the Welch Road entrance to the parking lot will be reconfigured with a signal to provide metered entry.

"The construction is expected to cause significant delays on Quarry Road," Kuntz said. Motorists are encouraged to take alternate routes whenever possible:

• People going to or from Stanford Hospital, clinics and Welch Road addresses should use a route along Arboretum Road/Sand Hill Road/Pasteur Drive, or Palm Drive/Campus Drive/Welch Road (see map printed on the reverse of this release).
• Staff using the Quarry Road parking lot should obtain access to Quarry from Campus Drive.

When the work is completed, Quarry Road will have two lanes in each direction with left-turn pockets and a landscaped median. The signals at Arboretum and Welch roads will be modified to conform to the new roadway.

The Pasteur Drive/Welch Road intersection, now controlled with stop signs, will have a signal, and the portion of Welch Road within the Pasteur Drive median will be widened to two lanes in each direction.

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