"The Road to Ruin." That was Mayor George T. Warman's name for the proposed Junipero Serra extension in April 1957, according to a history of the fight published by the Millbrae Historical Society. The road he was fighting would have run through the heart of Millbrae. The land it would have used is the strip that now holds the Skate Park, Rotary Park, Mosta Grove and the eucalyptus-shaded path most people know as the Spur Trail.
The trail looks the way it does because highway planners drew its route. It is long and narrow and runs mostly east to west, with parks strung along it like beads. The City started its Spur Trail Master Plan this fall, and that plan is the clearest effort yet to decide what this leftover freeway land should be on purpose.
A Decade of Saying No
The Historical Society account, written by Tom Dawdy, describes an agency called Highway District 10 that held the rights to extend Junipero Serra Boulevard through Millbrae. The project came south in stages, and the fight lasted about ten years:
- 1951: The extension was already being built between Sneath Lane and Crystal Springs Road in San Bruno. The proposed route through Millbrae was presented to the public, ending at Trousdale Drive.
- 1954: By this point, in Dawdy's words, "everyone in Millbrae was up in arms." The City Council ordered a major traffic study. The study found that a new freeway was needed but that routing it through Millbrae had no advantage, and it called a Skyline Boulevard alignment the logical choice.
- April 1957: Two alignments, Route A and Route B, were on the table. Warman gave the project its nickname, and the city backed neither route.
- May 1957: Mayor Mel Massolo laid out Millbrae's opposition to any extension route through the city. Later that year a "Route C" appeared that would bypass Millbrae, Burlingame and Hillsborough.
- November 1961: The State Division of Highways brought the earlier plans back. This version would follow the Spur property, cross El Camino Real on an overpass and take out the Kings Drive-In on Millbrae Avenue.
The project ended when the Junipero Serra Highway was folded into the Interstate system, which led to the construction of I-280 between San Francisco and San Jose.
The details of Route A show how close the freeway came to the town's familiar places. It would have crossed Lomita Avenue 300 feet west of Bayview Avenue and come down from Sleepy Hollow. It would have wiped out the 15th hole at Green Hills Country Club, added a new interchange there, and then crossed Anita Lane and Taylor Boulevard on its way southwest to Millbrae Avenue. Many of the streets people now walk to reach the trail were once lines on a highway map.
How Highway Land Became a Row of Parks
The City of Millbrae obtained the rights to the land in 1969, after years of it being held for the highway. Most of it was rezoned as open space in 1975. The City's own page for the trail tells the same story in brief: residents protested because the extension "would have split Millbrae in half," and the 1975 rezoning followed.
After that, the corridor was filled in a piece at a time. The Historical Society lists what ended up on the former highway land: the par course along Millbrae Avenue, Josephine Waugh Park near Hillcrest Boulevard, and the Spur Trail itself. Two later pieces show how varied the uses became:
- A restaurant at the east end. In 1984, part of the property at El Camino Real and Millbrae Avenue was sold for $1,100,000 and became the Hong Kong Flower Lounge. The land meant for an El Camino overpass held one of the Peninsula's best-known dim sum rooms for decades. Eater SF reported in January 2023 that the restaurant had closed for good on December 31.
- A park paid for by fundraisers. In 1996, Dawdy proposed that the City Council authorize the Sister Cities Commission to build a small park on the Spur at South Ashton Avenue. Fundraisers covered the cost, and the park was dedicated as Mosta Grove, across the street from Rotary Park. It is named for Mosta, Malta, one of Millbrae's sister cities. The City's facility page says Mosta Grove was renovated in August 2008 and has a lawn, benches, tables and barbecues.
A parcel sale, a citizen proposal, a rezoning and a set of neighborhood parks all ended up lined along a route that 1950s engineers chose for cars.
Walking the Old Route, East to West
Today the corridor runs from Magnolia Avenue at Millbrae Avenue on the east to Helen Drive on the west. It passes through residential neighborhoods and follows parts of Millbrae Avenue and Minorca Way. The City divides it into two phases, and they feel quite different.
Phase I starts at Magnolia and Millbrae Avenue under a line of large eucalyptus trees. Heading west, you pass the Skate Park, Mosta Grove, Rotary Park and Josephine Waugh Park. The National Fitness Campaign Fitness Court is also on this stretch, listed at 520 Millbrae Avenue. Rotary Park sits at Millbrae Avenue and South Ashton Avenue, with Mosta Grove right across the street. The master plan team also points to the Memorial Tree Grove, the open landscaped areas, the mature trees and the bridges over Millbrae Creek as the features that give the corridor its quieter stretches.
Phase II runs from Hillcrest to Richmond Drive. The City calls it "the quieter half of the Trail." It runs behind homes and climbs steadily, so the City warns walkers to "expect to get your heart rate up."
One stretch has a fitness court and a skate park, and the other is a quiet uphill path behind backyards. Both sit on land the 1975 rezoning set aside as open space.
What the City Asked This Fall
On September 24, 2026, the City posted "Reimagine the Spur Trail! Take the Survey," inviting residents to help shape a community-driven Spur Trail Master Plan under the slogan "Connecting people, connecting places." According to the project site, the plan will set a long-term vision and roadmap for improvements. Those could include better connections and pathways, more landscaping, new recreation or trail amenities, and ways to highlight the corridor's natural and community features. The final plan is meant to recommend priorities, phasing and ways to carry them out.
The first round of outreach has already happened. The team held a pop-up at the Mid-Autumn Festival in Downtown Millbrae on Saturday, September 19, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The community survey was offered in English, Spanish and Chinese and closed October 23, 2026. The survey split the corridor into three segments. The western one runs from Richmond Hill to Helen Drive.
The answer choices give a sense of the ideas on the table. Respondents were asked about:
- Lighting
- Improved paths
- Crossings and connections
- Landscaping
- Accessibility
- Public art
- Nature and history interpretation
- Seating
- Recreation
None of these has been adopted as a project; they were questions put to residents. The City's 2040 General Plan already calls for improving the Spur property with landscaping, trails, benches, ADA access, lighting and stormwater management, so the master plan has a policy starting point.
"Nature and history interpretation" is the choice that connects most directly to the corridor's past. If residents ask for it, the story of the 1957 "Road to Ruin" fight could be told along the path it saved.
What Comes Next
The project site says more engagement will take place in 2027. It describes the process as including surveys, workshops, pop-ups, focus groups and online input, with each round building on the last as ideas develop. For now, Phase I is still the eucalyptus walk past the Skate Park and Rotary Park, and Phase II is still the climb from Hillcrest to Richmond Drive.
The master plan site is where the next round of meetings will be posted. It is also the best way to stay involved now that the first survey has closed.
Barry and Jenn Gevertz have spent decades on the mid-Peninsula, and the stories behind places like the Spur Trail are part of how The Gevertz Group understands Millbrae block by block. If you want to talk about how the trail and the streets along it fit into your own plans, we'd be glad to help. Request a Personalized Market Consultation.
