MTA plan to limit car access on Twin Peaks
The steep stretch of road that swoops its way to the north end of the Twin Peaks overlook has starred in many car commercials. But it will be offlimits to drivers — perhaps permanently — as part of a plan to keep the scenic viewpoint a safe place for bike riders and pedestrians while accommodating cars and tour buses.
Municipal Transportation Agency directors approved a plan Tuesday that keeps the Burnett Avenue gate to Twin Peaks Boulevard closed to traffic except for emergency vehicles, bicycles, walkers and skaters. However, the Portola Drive entrance will be open around the clock and drivers will have access to the western side of the figureeight road and the Christmas Tree Road parking lot and viewing area. The eastern side of the figureeight road, which was carfree even before the pandemic, would remain that way.
Twin Peaks Boulevard and its two access roads — Burnett Avenue on the north and Portola Drive on the south — closed to traffic in March 2020 after shelterinplace orders took hold. With the road closed to cars and tour buses, and people eager to get out of their homes for exercise, Twin Peaks became a destination for bike riders and pedestrians. Accord
ing to MTA officials, about 800 people each weekday and 1,100 each weekend day visited the park with the famous panoramic view. Prepandemic numbers were not available, but most people agreed that the increase in users on bikes and foot was noticeable.
“Many of us discovered during COVID that there’s a massive park in the middle of San Francisco with a nascent trail system,” said Jeffrey Tumlin, the MTA’s transportation director.
But while many San Franciscans were overjoyed with the closure, some were not. Latenight partiers, car burglars and vandals — long a problem along the top of Twin Peaks — moved down the hill and brought their noise, trash and crime to neighborhoods near the Burnett Avenue entrance. People with disabilities or unable to walk or bike to the top said they were unfairly being excluded. And tourism officials, hoping to start revving the city’s top economic engine, said tour buses need access to the sweeping views.
MTA officials started looking at how to accommodate everyone. Their first attempt was to open the Portola Drive end of the road between 6 p.m. and midnight starting in September. But that didn’t give everyone access and didn’t
seem to cut down on the crime and partying.
Over the past few months, MTA officials came up with five plans: closing the northern access, closing the southern access, creating a shared oneway southbound route up and over the hill, creating a northbound route, or going back to the preCOVID configuration with both gates open and half of the figure eight reserved for pedalers and walkers.
An MTA survey, answered mainly by nearby residents, found that most supported closing Portola Drive to motor vehicles. Most of the more than 50 people who commented during a Zoom meeting agreed. They said opening the Burnett Avenue gate would
drive most of the troublemakers out of their neighborhood and back up the hill. Bicylists argued that opening the southern gate would create more carfree territory atop the Twin Peaks and give tour buses a more direct route to the Christmas Tree Point overlook. Some bike riders and walkers said the southern route was easier to navigate, especially for younger kids.
“We’re moving forward with the lessfavorable option,” said Kristen Leckie of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. Nonetheless, she said, the group supported the plan. “We have to preserve carfree space and this is a step moving forward, but it is hardly visionary.”
While a handful of speakers favored throwing open both gates, others said the city should permanently ban cars and tour buses from Twin Peaks altogether, with exceptions for Muni buses, paratransit vans and possible shuttles.