San Francisco, CA
2024 Election: What to know about San Francisco's Proposition K
Prop K: Opponents worried about traffic, business impacts
San Francisco voters will weigh in on Proposition K on the November ballot, which proposes closing part of the Great Highway to create a park and recreation area from Lincoln Way south to Sloat Boulevard.
SAN FRANCISCO – With not much else to do during the COVID-19 pandemic, people were forced to go out and enjoy nature. In San Francisco, the Great Highway closed to traffic allowing pedestrians to roam freely and take in ocean views.
What is Prop K?
Now, voters have the opportunity to close the popular stretch of road to private vehicles, seven days a week, permanently establishing public recreation space.
The measure, Proposition K, needs a 50%+1 affirmative vote to pass.
The upper Great Highway is a two-mile segment of the roadway.
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency boasts this stretch as a 17-acre park with a two-mile promenade on weekends. On weekdays, it is a roadway with an adjacent trail.
What a yes vote means
A yes vote means you want the city to use the Upper Great Highway as public open recreation space, permanently closing it to private motor vehicles seven days a week with limited expectations.
What a no vote means
A no vote means you do not want San Francisco to make these changes.
Who is sponsoring Prop K?
A collective of the San Francisco County Supervisors sponsored the ballot measure including Supervisors Joel Engardio, Myrna Melgar, Dean Preston, Rafael Mandelman, and Matt Dorsey. They submitted the ballot measure in June.
Other supervisors who have cosigned this proposition include mayoral candidate Ahsha Safai and Hilary Ronen.
Prop K is seeing prominent endorsements from Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, State Senator Scott Wiener, and San Francisco Mayor London Breed.
During the pandemic, the Great Highway was closed to private vehicles between Lincoln Way and Sloat Boulevard.
As the public health crisis waned, city officials tried pilot programs to appease both drivers and those who enjoyed the newfound pedestrian freedom from the road’s closure.
No on Prop K rally held in San Francisco
A rally was held on Wednesday to oppose a measure on November’s ballot that would shut down the Great Highway at Ocean Beach to private vehicles. They say thousands of people use the roadway daily to get to work, to the V.A. hospital or to visit loved ones. The supervisor who authored the measure says the city is working on making traffic flow improvements to other streets that would see impacts from the closure.
Who opposes Prop K?
While the measure for Prop K made the ballot, opponents said thousands of people use the Great Highway daily to get to work, to access the V.A. hospital and to visit loved ones.
They also wanted the focus to be on the traffic impacts to other neighborhoods.
Supervisor Engardio, who authored the measure, said the city is working on making traffic flow improvements on other city streets.
“There is capacity to get people where they need to go in their cars, and have an oceanside park that would bring immense benefit,” said Engardio. “It’s good for the environment, it’s good for local business and it creates joy for generations of San Franciscans.”
Chris Gutierrez, a barista at Ocean Beach Cafe, said he moved to San Francisco a few months ago.
“I’ve heard people say [closing it to traffic] will make greater traffic on Irving Street,” said Gutierrez. But he had a difference of opinion. “I’m always down for more green spaces.”
Sunset District resident Eliza Panike shared a similar perspective.
“I don’t use the Great Highway as a transit corridor. I use it far more when it is a park,” she said.
Mixed reviews
But there are mixed reviews.
“It will divert all the traffic into the neighborhoods,” said Bobby Von Merta, a San Francisco native whose house is along the Great Highway. “You’ll only have one access along Sunset Boulevard there, which if you come down here on the weekends, it’s already backed up right now.”
Engardio said if Prop K doesn’t pass, The Great Highway south of Sloat Boulevard will have to close next year anyway due to coastal erosion.
“Right now, if people want to ride bikes, they can already do it on the Great Highway. There is a path to jog on both sides,” said Albert Chow, owner of the Great Wall Hardware Store on Taraval Street who does not support Prop. K.
In May 2022, the Upper Great Highway was closed to private vehicles on Friday afternoons, weekends and holidays.
According to the SFMTA, in December 2022, the SF Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance to keep this section of the Upper Great Highway as a car-free promenade through December 31, 2025. This ordinance also allowed for a three-year pilot study.
The transit agency’s website says the pilot project ordinance maintains the schedule that the road is closed to private vehicles starting Friday afternoons at 12 p.m. through Monday mornings at 6 a.m. and on holidays.
Voters should note, emergency vehicles, official government vehicles and public transit shuttles would not be impacted by the road closure.
If Prop K passes, it would also require approvals under the California Coastal Act as well as amendments to the city’s general plan.
The current pilot program in place is scheduled to end on December 31, 2025.
The Yes on K – Ocean Beach Park group says the land is owned and managed by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, whose charter states that park land shall be used for recreational purposes.
A California sea lion pup found last week on a San Francisco street corner is malnourished but “active and quite feisty,” The Marine Mammal Center said Monday.
The sea lion, believed to be about 10 months old, had apparently wandered into city’s Outer Sunset neighborhood and was discovered early Thursday morning, authorities said.
The pup was spotted near 48th and Irving Streets, one block from Ocean Beach and Sunset Dunes park. A trained responder from the Marine Mammal Center was joined by San Francisco park rangers and police officers to safely corral the pup, now named ‘Irving’, into a carrier crate.
Dubbed ‘Irving’ by his rescuers, Irving weighed in at 40 pounds and is considered malnourished, the Marine Mammal Center said.
“The sea lion is active and quite feisty which is a positive initial sign in terms of general behavior,” the center said in a news release on Monday.
During an exam by veterinarians, a series of blood samples were also taken to determine whether there’s any underlying ailment.
Irving is being tube fed a fish smoothie blend two times per day to boost hydration and weight; offers of whole herring will also begin shortly.
The quick actions by police, recreation and parks staff and Ocean Avenue Animal Hospital gave the young sea lion a second chance at life, said Lauren Campbell, animal husbandry manager at The Marine Mammal Center.
“As a roughly 10-month-old pup in his first year of learning how to forage on his own, this animal has a long road to recovery due to his severe malnutrition,” Campbell said. “We are hopeful that in the coming weeks with continued specialized care that this pup starts to make positive strides toward recovery and release.”
Irving will be held in the Center’s Intensive Quarantine Unit until clearing medical protocols, before likely being transferred this week to a traditional rehabilitation pool pen. A long-term prognosis and potential release timeline are not currently known.
After Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants headed back to the West Coast. They’re going back to the Bay Area, too.
The Giants have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Oracle Park starting Tuesday night.
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So, San Francisco probably wanted to get out of Washington, D.C., with a win. That didn’t happen at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon.
Nationals reliever Andrew Alvarez, the third pitcher used by the team on Sunday, picked up the victory with 4 1/3 innings of work. Giants starter Robbie Ray absorbed the loss, falling to 2-3 this season.
Ray worked six innings, giving up seven hits, three runs (all earned), walking one, and striking out seven Nationals. If the Giants’ offense had found a way to tack on some runs, then Ray’s outing wouldn’t have looked so bad.
The Giants’ bats, though, had eight hits. The big number for Giants manager Tony Vitello to look at in the box score after this one was, well, pretty big. San Francisco left 10 runners on base on Sunday, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. This indicates that San Francisco had plenty of opportunities to score some runs.
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They just didn’t get the job done.
Let’s go to the bottom of the fifth with the Giants and Nationals in a scoreless tie. With nobody out, the Nationals’ Keibert Ruiz connected for his third double this season. Nasim Nuñez scored to put Washington up 1-0.
With one out, Curtis Mead sent a Ray pitch over the left-field wall, a two-run blast that gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead.
San Francisco had a scoring threat in the top of the eighth inning. With runners at first and second base and nobody out, Casey Schmitt grounded into a double play. Matt Chapman, who was on second base, went to third. But the Giants were unable to bring him home.
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Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Giants, producing half of the Giants’ hits.
The Giants fall to 9-13 this season, sitting in fourth place in the National League West Division. The Nationals’ record goes to 10-12, good enough for third place in the National League East Division.
All eyes now turn toward Oracle on Tuesday night. It’ll be a chance for two longtime rivals to renew their rivalry.
Baseball fans know that the Giants-Dodgers matchups usually are must-see TV.
That’s probably going to be the case once again as Giants fans watch their team battle the Dodgers. Those lucky to have tickets to the three-game series at Oracle Park will show up in Giants colors, hoping to see Los Angeles head back to Southern California with either a series loss or a Giants’ sweep.
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Buckle up, Giants fans. It’s about to get rowdy at Oracle Park.
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