Millbrae's Spur Trail Began as a Fight Over a Road. Now It's Being Planned as a Route.

At Magnolia Avenue and Millbrae Avenue, the Spur Trail starts under a row of tall eucalyptus. The City's own description of the trail uses the words "peaceful and serene." That calm is the result of a fight. The strip of land was set aside to extend Junipero Serra Boulevard, part of a road meant to connect cities from San Francisco to San Jose. Residents protested because the road would have split Millbrae in half. In 1975 the property was rezoned as open space.

Fifty-one years later, the City's plans for the corridor bring back the idea behind the old road, this time for people walking and biking. The grant money, the capital budget and the new master plan all treat the Spur Trail as a way to get across Millbrae. The rest of this post explains what that means for the trail and its neighbors over the next two years.

What the corridor looks like today

The City's Spur Trail facility page splits the trail into two phases. Phase I starts at the Magnolia and Millbrae Avenue intersection. Heading west, you pass:

1. The eucalyptus-lined opening stretch
2. The Millbrae Skate Park
3. Mosta Grove
4. Rotary Park
5. Josephine Waugh Park

Phase II starts on Hillcrest. The City calls it "the quieter half of the Trail." It runs behind homes on an incline, so the City warns walkers to "expect to get your heart rate up."

The new Spur Trail Master Plan site describes the same corridor in more detail. It mentions the Skate Park and a National Fitness Campaign Station, the full name Josephine Waugh–Soroptimist Park, the Memorial Tree Grove, and bridges over Millbrae Creek. It also says the route follows parts of Millbrae Avenue and Minorca Way. The two City sources disagree on the western end. The facility page ends Phase II at Richmond Drive, while the master plan site runs the corridor to Helen Drive. That gap matters because the master plan is the document that will decide where the trail officially ends.

Today, then, the trail is a chain of parks and groves linked by a path. The City's funding plans aim to connect that chain to destinations beyond the corridor.

The grant money points east, toward the station and the bay

In December 2024, the San Mateo County Transportation Authority awarded Millbrae $900,000 through its Measure A and Measure W Cycle 7 Pedestrian and Bicycle Program for the Spur Trail Connectivity Project Phase I. The SMCTA project description covers a two-mile bicycle and pedestrian facility. It would close what the authority calls "a critical gap in the city's bicycle network from Lomita Trail to Spur Trail." It would also provide routes to the Millbrae Transit Center, where BART, Caltrain and SamTrans connect. From there, the project would consider alignments that cross the US 101/Millbrae Avenue overcrossing to reach the Bay Trail.

The City's adopted Fiscal Year 2025–2026 and 2026–2027 budget describes the goal more directly than any other document:

The project will connect the Spur Trail to more of the community and regional facilities with the goal of providing an end-to-end Class I path and forming the backbone of Millbrae's active transportation network.

The budget sets aside $1,000,000 for the project in FY2026. That total is the $900,000 grant plus $15,000 from the General Fund for design, $60,000 from park impact fees and $25,000 from the Streets fund. A road was meant to run along this corridor and connect cities. The City now calls the same corridor the backbone of its walking and biking network. The Parks and Recreation Commission's FY2025–2027 work plan goes further. It calls for continued recommendations on "regional connection between San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame, and the BART station."

The trail's starting point gets fixed first

A trail that works as a route needs safe road crossings, and the first one being fixed is where the Spur Trail begins. SMCTA awarded Millbrae a second Cycle 7 grant of $675,000, with a $75,000 local match, for Safe Route Intersection Improvements at Magnolia Avenue and Millbrae Avenue. According to SMCTA, the project adds pedestrian traffic-calming measures at and near the intersection and upgrades the signals to give left turns a protected arrow.

This is the eucalyptus-lined corner where Phase I starts. Its crossing project has an earlier target date than the larger connectivity project. Here is where both stood in SMCTA's FY2026 fourth-quarter status report, which covers April 1 through June 30, 2026:

The same report lists $0 of grant money spent on either project through June 30, 2026. Both projects were still in planning and design in mid-2026. The more visible work on the intersection is set to come first, and the full connection to the station and the bay after that.

Smaller fixes on the trail itself

While the grant projects work outward from the trail, the City's capital budget includes three line items on the corridor itself. Each is at a different stage.

Shade at the fitness area. The adopted budget includes $600,000 for shade structures, split between the Spur Trail Fitness Area and the Central Park picnic area. The money is spread evenly at $300,000 in FY2026 and $300,000 in FY2027.

The skate park. The budget says many of the Skate Park's features "are made of wood instead of the more resilient concrete option" and are slowly deteriorating. It proposes a Lower Spur Trail Skate Park Renovation and Fitness Court Development Project to address the safety issues. According to the budget, the design was developed with the Skatepark User Group and keeps the park's existing footprint. All wooden elements would be replaced with concrete, and new features would include a pyramid with a quarter pipe section, a grind rail, a wall ride, and a platform with grindable ledges. The project is listed as "Unfunded," with $0 in every fiscal year from FY2026 through FY2030.

Rotary Park. The budget says Rotary Park needs renovation, possibly including new equipment, turf improvements, plantings and amenities. It schedules design to start in FY 26/27, "dependent on funding approval."

Taken together, these show the order of the work. The connections to the transit center and the bay have outside grant money and dates. Improvements to the trail's own features are either budgeted, listed as unfunded, or waiting on funding approval.

Where the master plan fits

The City announced the Spur Trail Master Plan on September 24, 2026. The stated goal is to reimagine the trail "as a more connected recreational corridor and vibrant community asset." The plan's six guideposts are connecting people and places, enhancing the trail experience, exploring recreation, celebrating nature, strengthening community identity, and planning implementation over time. The project team says the final plan will combine community input, City goals and a review of existing conditions. It will then recommend improvements with priorities, phasing and an implementation strategy.

The first round of public input is already over. The project team held a pop-up at Downtown Millbrae's Mid-Autumn Festival on Saturday, September 19, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. A community survey in English, Spanish and Chinese closed October 23. The Get Involved page says more community engagement will take place in 2027.

That timing matters. The 2027 engagement rounds overlap with design on the Magnolia and Millbrae intersection, which is due by December 2027, and come before the June 2028 target for the connectivity project. Public input next year will help decide what the trail looks like between its new connections. That covers shade, landscaping, recreation amenities, and how Phase I's groves and parks fit with a path that is starting to work like a through-route. The City's 2040 General Plan already calls for better pathways to both the Spur Trail and the Bay Trail. The master plan is where that goal gets turned into specific projects.

Nick Villanueva follows Millbrae's trail, park and street projects as closely as its homes for sale. If you live near the Spur Trail and want help keeping track of the Magnolia and Millbrae intersection work, the 2027 master plan meetings, or the connection to the transit center, reach out anytime. I'm happy to share what I'm tracking and what it could mean for your block.