San Francisco, CA
San Francisco to vote on the future of the Great Highway: oceanfront park or thoroughfare
There is a debate over the future of San Francisco’s Great Highway: Supporters of Prop K call it a once-in-a-generation chance for a new oceanfront park, and critics say it is a traffic debacle in the making.
If approved, Proposition K would turn a two-mile stretch of the Upper Great Highway into an open space. That would permanently open the roadway up to cyclists and joggers, like it currently is on the weekends, and weekday traffic would get shifted to other streets.
It’s a debate that goes back to the highway’s closure during the pandemic, and it has divided a neighborhood ahead of a vote by the entire city.
“I came here three years ago,” said Grace Princen “So, during COVID. And they had just started opening up the highway.”
Grace Princen is a Sunset resident, a park volunteer, and a supporter of the plan to permanently close this stretch of the Great Highway
“It’s just really great,” Princen said. “There’s so many people who come out, even if it’s not sunny, even if it’s really foggy or bad weather. There’s always a ton of people here on the weekends.”
“The work we’re beginning today over the next few months is a great start,” said Jane Lew of the “Yes on K” Campaign. “But for it to have maximum impact, we need to pass Proposition K.”
Prop K would close the highway from Sloat to Lincoln. And the way supporters describe it, it’s really not much of a choice.
“The southern part of the highway is already falling into the ocean because of coastal erosion,” said Supervisor Joel Engardio. “So, that’s the lemon. The lemonade is what we’re trying to fix and create here by creating this park.”
“I’ve lived here for 47 years,” said Sunset resident Joe Wiegand. “My first job was working at Playland at the Beach back in 1963.”
Wiegand has spent most of his life living right on the Great Highway. He wants it to remain just that.
“Just says open the Great Highway,” Wiegand said. “This one is ‘No, On K.’”
And like most opponents, the reason is this.
“Well mainly the traffic,” Wiegand explained. “All those cars that are out there there isn’t any other way to get from the Richmond District south of here or for that matter to go north. So that traffic has to go up to 19th Avenue or Sunset, if it just wanted to be on this side.”
“Are we going to be in a situation where people can just say, ‘Well’ let’s close this street,” said John Trasvina with the “No on K” Campaign. “Let’s close Dublin or Persia or Mission Street for whatever reason. We can’t do these things by putting them on the ballot and have everybody vote. That’s why we have supervisors.”
Opponents said the measure sets a bad precedent for closing park-adjacent streets. And there’s frustration that what they feel is very much a neighborhood issue has been handed to voters across San Francisco.
“Having it put on the city ballot was a way for Joel Engardio, our supervisor, to dilute our intense voices because we live there,” complained Albert Chow. “We know what the dynamics are.”
“So, it’s a mixed bag,” Engardio said of the dispute. “There are people who are against it, There are people who want it. And that’s why it’s on the ballot. Because this is not going to go away, this contentious issue, and we need everyone to have a say.”
Supervisor Engardio, who has been threatened with a recall over the issue, said improvements on streets like Sunset Avenue can accommodate the traffic changes.
“I’ve seen the plans for how they’re gonna reroute traffic, and I just don’t think there’s going to be a huge impact on people who are driving through this area,” Princen said. “Especially because the upper part of Sloat is being closed.”
How it would impact traffic, the amount of recreation the park might see on a weekdays: It is a divide people can see in the windows along the Great Highway, or what may soon become the city’s newest park.
“We’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” Wiegand said.
Pop K has the backing of a list of environmental groups, seven of the city’s supervisors, and a giant snowy plover.
So, some of the opponents in the neighborhood said it can feel a bit like them against the world.
A “yes” vote would only designate the area as a park. Any redesign or physical transformation would all have to start from scratch, some time following an approval by the voters.
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San Francisco, CA
Dozens of apparent shopping carts stuck in marsh along SF Bay: ‘How did they get there?!’
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KGO) — Dozens of apparent shopping carts are stuck in a marsh along the San Francisco Bay. And residents are puzzled as to how they got there.
“It’s crazy! Gross!” said Kim Avalos, who frequents the trail. “What is that?!”
The San Francisco Bay Trail in South San Francisco curves around the mouth of the Colma Creek marsh. It’s a popular walking and running trail, but local residents are starting to notice something in the water.
“Now that I’m looking at… wow…there’s actually so many shopping carts out here,” said Avalos. “There’s an extreme amount.”
Avalos works for a nearby garbage company. She says she walks the trail every day but has never seen anything like this.
“It’s actually kind of insane to think about how they even got there,” Avalos said.
It’s the same story for others who frequent the trail. At first glance, mistaking the debris for rocks until they actually stare at it.
“It kind of blends in,” said Hondres when we approached him on the trail. “I’ve never seen grocery carts out in the Bay like this… I don’t know, it’s kind of weird.”
“Have you noticed it before?” 7 On Your Side’s Stephanie Sierra asked another passer-by.
“Uh… no. This is kind of new,” he said. “Someone is being very stupid… I’ve seen them over the years. I don’t remember there being this many. There’s quite a few.”
Many people who frequent the trail said when it’s high tide it’s hard to notice anything.
“It does look like shopping carts, do you know if that’s what it is?”
It’s hard to say for sure. But at low tide, it certainly looks that way.
“It does look like shopping carts, amongst other things,” Save the Bay representative Josh Quigley said.
And there’s not just one or two, but there’s what appears to be dozens of them spanning the Colma Creek marsh adjacent to the bay.
“Have you ever seen this many shopping carts along the bay?” Stephanie Sierra asked.
“I have not, no,” Quigley said. “This is certainly the greater concentration that I’ve ever seen in one place.”
Quigley is the Senior Policy Manager for Save the Bay, an environmental nonprofit founded in 1961 to stop excessive filling of the San Francisco Bay.
“I think it’s really unfortunate… the bay is treated not as the jewel and resource that it should be, but as a dumping ground,” Quigley said.
So, where is it all coming from? That seems to be up for debate.
“It could be a big prank, if anything, but at this rate I have no idea,” said Alvin Lau, who visits the trail regularly.
“There’s often homeless people in the mobile RV vehicles,” said another. “There’s always a lot of trash here, not going to lie.”
“I don’t know, maybe Costco. They are our neighbors,” Kim Avalos said. “Could be because they do look bigger.”
A Costco Business Center is about a mile from Colma Marsh. 7 On Your Side reached out to Costco’s corporate office, and the South San Francisco Costco General Manager said: “We walk and clean the trail multiple times a week, in addition to checking for any carts that might end up in the bay.”
The goal now is to clean it out — and ensure it stays that way.
“Stop being dumb. There’s only one planet we got, so take care of it,” said Lau.
“It hurts me as an animal lover to see all these shopping carts in their place of habitat,” Avalos said.
“Save the Bay” says overall pollution is decreasing across the bay shoreline, but there are instances–like this one–where smaller pockets need to be addressed.
Locally, there are regulations in place to prevent this type of pollution.
7 On Your Side contacted the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board to further investigate and clean up the area.
Take a look at more stories and videos by 7 On Your Side.
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SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — San Francisco will celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary this July 4 with a rare fireworks show on the Golden Gate Bridge, the mayor’s office announced Monday. It will be the first time in 14 years, and the third time ever, that a fireworks display will be held on the iconic span.
“The Golden Gate Bridge is as iconic as any landmark in the United States, so it’s an ideal place to launch fireworks for our country’s 250th anniversary,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a news release announcing the event.
With the change of venue for the city’s annual July 4 fireworks show, the mayor’s office is providing guidance on where to watch, and where not to watch, this year’s Golden Gate Bridge display, set to begin at 9:30 p.m.
Recommended viewing locations:
- Crissy Field
- Marina Green
- Fisherman’s Wharf/Pier 39
The mayor’s office noted that “because this year’s fireworks will launch from the east side of the Golden Gate Bridge between its two towers, the best viewing areas are those with a clear northwest sightline toward the bridge.”
Locations that are not recommended for viewing the fireworks show due to obstructed views include Ocean Beach, the Ferry Building and the Embarcadero waterfront.
The Golden Gate Bridge will be completely shut down to vehicle and pedestrian traffic during the Independence Day show. Vehicles will be blocked from the bridge beginning around 8:30 p.m. until “shortly after the conclusion of the fireworks display,” officials said. The east and west sidewalks will be closed from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The two previous fireworks displays were in 1987 and 2012, when the Golden Gate Bridge’s 50th and 75th anniversaries were celebrated.
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