The Matadero Trail, a public hiking trail which runs between the south of Page Mill Road and Foothill expressway, opens today. The trail is part of a network of trails that the University agreed to construct as part of its land-use agreement with Santa Clara County in 2000.

The opening comes after over a decade of criticism over the project. The trails, which were proposed in 1995, prompted a 2006 lawsuit against the county and the University that claimed that the environmental review of plans had been insufficient. The state Supreme Court overturned an appellate court ruling on that case in February 2010.

The northern part of the trail, which will run from El Camino Real to Arastradero Road, remains caught between two different routes proposed by the county and the University. The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors rejected the University’s plan in 2010 and has until Dec. 31 of this year to decide whether it will accept $8.4 million from the University to build one segment along Alpine Road.

Stanford’s $1 million offer to the Town of Los Altos Hills was also recently tabled, pending an environmental review of and more debate over the project.

–Ivy Nguyen