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.