Cars to return on Great Highway
Move intensifies fight over future of traffic in S.F.
The Great Highway, which has been closed to vehicular traffic for nearly a year and a half, will reopen to through traffic, at least on weekdays starting Aug. 16.
In a Thursday afternoon announcement, Mayor London Breed’s office said that the Great Highway will be open to car traffic from 6 a.m. on Mondays to noon on Fridays, when the road will be closed to cars. The Great Highway will also stay closed to vehicular traffic on holidays, according to Breed’s announcement.
The new changes will remain in place until the Board of Supervisors decide on a one or twoyear pilot configuration for the Great Highway later this
year.
In her statement, Breed said the roadway’s changes “will make sure that residents and visitors still can enjoy this incredible space, while recognizing the needs of our families and residents who need to get to school and work during the week as we reopen.”
San Francisco closed the Great Highway to car traffic in the early days of the pandemic as a way to give residents more space to exercise and recreate while social distancing. Its permanent closure has been fiercely defended by many residents who’ve described the highway’s closure as transformational for the city, giving residents of all ages space to recreate without fear for their safety.
Many residents in the Sunset District have also criticized the road’s closure and its impacts, saying that it created more traffic congestion on adjacent streets.
The highway’s fate has been one of the city’s more divisive issues as it plans for what San Francisco’s streetscape will look like after the pandemic. Recent hearings on the matter have drawn passionate debate from thousands of residents who either want the Great Highway to remain permanently closed or reopened to car traffic.
Supervisor Gordon Mar, who represents the Sunset District, called the mayor’s decision “a meaningful compromise.”
“I believe this is the right road forward,” Mar told The Chronicle. “We’re really balancing the benefits of this unique open space with the real need for safe and efficient traffic flow.”
The announcement drew criticism from residents who support keeping the highway permanently closed to cars.
An hour after the news broke, Sunset District parents who support what they’ve dubbed as the “Great Walkway” described the decision as a step backward at a virtual news conference. They said reopening the roadway to cars on weekdays would have little benefit to children’s school commutes, citing a recent report by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority. The report found that the highway’s most popular prepandemic use came from Richmond District residents driving to the South Bay and Peninsula.
“Parents are [upset] about losing this safe space for our children,” parentadvocate Matt Brezina said.
The SFCTA is studying five potential longterm options that the Board of Supervisors will decide on later this year. One of those five options includes reopening the highway to cars on weekdays and keeping it a promenade on the weekends.
Mar on Thursday reiterated a stance that the highway’s longterm closure to cars can’t happen without significant investments in public transit on the west side to counter its impacts on traffic.
The news that the highway was reopening to cars, though, surprised many residents and advocates tuned to an issue that has drawn intense public interest in recent months.
“We’re super shocked and disappointed that the supervisor and the mayor are not allowing the city process to be carried out,” said Jodie Medeiros, executive director of the Walk San Francisco nonprofit.
“This is a process that was outlined and yet they’re moving forward, practically overnight, and taking away this beloved people space during the pandemic,” Medeiros said. “We’re not out of the woods yet and people and families really do need a safe space to to gather and recreate outside while we weather the pandemic.”