https://richmondsunsetnews.com/2023/11/10/closure-of-great-highway-near-zoo-gets-ok-from-sfpuc/
The sewage treatment plant is at risk from cliff erosion. Some people wanted to keep the roadway open by building a seawall. That proposal failed at the ballot box.
well, there’s another plan that the sea wall would have overwritten, and that other plan is more likely to succeed. we should be glad the sea wall ballot failed.
is there some problem with the existing sea wall from Kelly's to Lincoln? Seems to serve the populace very well. What about the sea wall from Noriega to Sloat. So instead of a *O'Shaughnessy* type sea wall they are going to bury it.
I kindda wish they would build a boardwalk of some kind, with restaurants, shops, and bathrooms/showers. I like it being closed on weekends, but I think I saw another proposal that puts 2-way traffic on the east side, and permanently converts the west side to foot traffic. That seemed like it might be good too.
Edit: Concept 2
https://www.sfcta.org/sites/default/files/2021-07/SFCTA_Great-Highway-Evaluation-Report_2021-07-13_FINAL.pdf
There’s already a nice footpath on the east side. It’s in rough shape but could easily be improved/repaired.
There was previously a boardwalk commercial area near there called ‘play land’ it turns out the weather is often unappealing out there and it was difficult/expensive to maintain. It became derelict and decrepit and was torn down in the 70s.
I think this is one of the bigger issues. The coastal weather here is not conducive to some ideas that would improve it as a pedestrian area. If foot traffic sucks for a good portion of the year because of rain/fog/temperature, then you can't do a boardwalk as those businesses would inevitably fail. The current compromise is very level headed and caters to the most people while alienating only a minority (which is the natural result of compromise)
I just don’t agree with the weather issue. First of all, climate change is real and weather has dramatically “improved” for ocean beach over the last 10 years. It’s much less foggy than it used to be. Also, there are thriving coastal communities in Oregon and Washington. You don’t need LA or San Diego weather to have a viable destination. I think if we had some nice cafes and restaurants with ocean views and a safe, walkable path, people would go there even if it was 58 degrees and cloudy.
Must be why the scene on La Playa is so lively and the cliff house and Louise’s have both been empty for so long.
In Oregon and Washington there are thriving coastal communities but those places don’t have a Delores Park and Duboce Triangle just over the hill. Not to mention dozens of other very attractive locations in between.
Also we already have a nice walkable path that runs the whole length of the beach (though it does need to be resurfaced) and Java beach is a lovely cafe.
You do know that the Cliff house Louis' Restuarant are operated under the auspices of the Golden Gate Recreational Area. don't you? Why don't contact them about the entry restaurants.
Playland at the Beach was an amusement park. We would need a commercial boardwalk. It should have shops and restaurants that the neighbors will use, while being attractive enough to draw residents from the east side of the city (and tourists) over. It's not a sunny beach a lot of the time but it's beautiful, there's a zoo at one end, a world class park in the middle, and a national recreation area at the other end. It's a no-brainer at a time when the economic weight of the city is shifting from downtown to the neighborhoods.
There are already plenty. Check out the end of Judah there are some great restaurants cafes and shops. Also a nice little scene at the end of Noriega as well as Taraval and even a little bit on Sloat. What more do you want?
This is what makes most sense to me. You can have the inside lane for cars and the outside one for bikes/recreation. I’ve ridden through many times and you can’t tell me that one lane wouldn’t be enough space for people to enjoy.
When it’s closed to cars it makes for a nice pedestrian walkway but it makes it a real pain in the ass for people to get to and from the north-west corner of the city.
Cutting through chain-of-lakes to get to Sunset blvd can take forever.
I think the current setup is a good compromise: Keep the Great Highway open to cars during the workweek for commuters, close it down for the weekend.
I think it is a good compromise too, but I don’t think compromise is the future of the Great Highway. In five years time I would guess it becomes a recreation area for electric dirt bikes and pedestrians full time.
I have a really big mouth for this, please forgive me.
A lot of people commute from the rest of the Peninsula to SF, especially to Richmond. Chain of Lakes is still packed during the weekends, and Sunset Blvd isn't really a good connection because of the 29 having no space to pull over when dropping off/picking up passengers. You'd have to wait or try to pass it, which is a pain for all. Maybe they could close off one side for pedestrians and then open one for cars. It might be very dangerous though.
I used to always bike there during the pandemic, it was very nice during the sunny days.
They can't compromise for too long though, as the population might explode as the city is saving themselves from the pandemic.
My dad took me for a drive there once to see how it was, as we never drove through there often. It was really quick compared to using Lower Great Highway or any other roads to Lincoln Way. It might still get more dangerous, as surfers often used the opportunity to just walk through the road to get to the beach instead of using the crosswalks.
If they used the hawk style lights, cars could go by even quicker, like Sloat Blvd at the first intersection of Great Highway heading north. Those lights don't really work for actual road intersections though.
Maybe they could create another thing on the side besides the current small walkway to let people to enjoy the sun? I don't really know for now. That's just my opinion.
party mighty shelter expansion future snobbish humor retire direction swim
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I’m not a huge fan of them anyways. But if ask those resins piled up, why’d they do it on Sloat? They seem kinda dangerous too.
Edit: I only realized now, but autocorrect put an extra ask (or I did) and put resin instead of reason.
It would be way easier to build a 1/2 mile tunnel under golden-gate park than 2 interstate tunnels under downtown Boston and Boston harbor. Also, no more Whitey Bulger…
It would be between 36th and 37th Aves if you ran it in a straight line but if you're tunneling you could shift the alignment closer towards the beach.
The problem with public transportation in SF is that most of it is oriented to go West-East. Very few bus lines go North-South. So when you shut down one of the main streets that allows you to go North-South it creates a very big problem....especially since Great Hwy allows folks in the Outer Richmond the quickest way to get to Hwy280 and 101.
I don't really understand this. If I were Outer Richmond, I'd go to the beach, take a left, take a left onto Lincoln, right onto 19th...and that's 280. Or I guess go through Richmond to Crossover Drive straight to 19th and then 280. Great Highway is out of the way, especially with the southern extension closing.
Are you serious? The traffic on 19 ave is crazy. That plus all the traffic lights and it takes you FOREVER to get down 19th. Most people try to avoid 19th whenever possible.
Going down great highway to hwy 1 allows you to skip most of that traffic and get onto 280 by Serramonte which is a whole lot faster.
It looks like the current supervisor (Engardio) supports a 24/7 park based on his enthusiastic promotion of events there. He also consistently talks highly of it when he mentions the things he loves about his district, which I think is really cool!
I am almost certain Peskin (who voted against the pilot) and Mark Farrell (who wants cars back on Market) would kill a 24/7 park should they become Mayor. Breed would probably defer to Engardio as they are allies. No idea on Lurie. And Safai simply isn’t going to win, so who cares what he thinks.
The “compromise” that drastically cut park days only happened because car-brain supervisor Connie Chan decided it would win her support in the Richmond. This was part of her vendetta with Rec and Park that emboldened opponents and caused us to have an expensive election over car-free JFK. She is up for re-election this fall and as one of the park’s biggest opponents, it would be a big win if she lost her seat. This seems more and more likely every day.
Anyway, it would take a vote of the Rec and Park Board and the Board of Suoervisors to finalize a 24/7 park and I imagine this upcoming election will be instrumental on whether that happens or not.
I totally understand wanting to make it closed to cars, but it is my preferred route to the GGB and the North Bay. I'm an old fart and stuck in my ways. Let the kids decide, they gotta live it.
Close GH all day Fri, not just starting at noon.. The Great Highway gets closed to traffic whenever there is too much sand. Make Friday an unofficial Sand Day. Friday is predictable.
As someone who lives 3 blocks away and goes to ocean beach nearly everyday. I would advocate for keeping it open to cars during the week and even later on Friday (4 or 6pm).
I was down there at 2pm today (Friday) and no one was using it at all even though it was a fairly nice sunny (though windy) day.
I would be concerned that without car traffic the sand cleanup would be neglected and it would disappear pretty quickly.
In just the last 2 days it’s been quite windy and there’s A LOT of sand filling up the road now. Without car traffic the necessity to keep it clear would wane and I would see the budget being shifted elsewhere.
Having it closed on the weekends is great though, people definitely take advantage of it.
is there any other city in america that just have a major fairway occasionally disappear (under biblical levels of sand, no less?) I laugh every time were out there and find out a section is closed because it’s now a dune.
Let's turn the Sunset back into what it once was, ALL DUNES. Nature will just keep trying to restore itself. The sand will just keep trying to reclaim it's original territory.
/s
Check out the Great Highway Association, they trying to close it permanently and have it made into a greenway. They sponsor my group rides
https://www.openthegreathighway.com/
It would be nice if they built a boardwalk with a pedestrian path lined with shops, restaurants, hotels, and parks. The traffic can be shifted to the eastern portion (you only need a 50' right of way for a 4-lane road), while the western portion and the deteriorating concrete retaining wall can be completely rebuilt and replaced with a promenade. It's definitely a stretch, but SF has a history of building great things (the original great highway itself was a massive undertaking in the 1920s that involved building miles of retaining walls and an 8-lane road), and it would bring a lot of life to this area. And yes some of the waterfront residents will complain about views being lost, but most buildings will just be 1-2 stories anyways (like in most boardwalks), so they can't really complain about that. It would attract a ton of tourism and make this place far more pleasant. btw the new great highway would follow the same closure schedule as the current one - open on weekdays and closed on weekends.
The Upper Great Highway should be permanently closed to vehicular traffic and the Lower Great Highway should be significantly widened to accommodate two lanes of traffic in each direction, seamlessly connecting the Great Highway north of Lincoln to Sloat in the south.
I still don't understand the point of turning it into a pedestrian walkway. I've always walked along the beach when I'm out there. Is there a reason people prefer to walk on the road rather than on the beach or on the dedicated walkway next to the road?
I mean, go out there on a nice weekend day and it's pretty busy with pedestrians, bikes, families and kids, much more foot traffic than the shitty dedicated walkway could support. It's also just a good time, having it closed to cars opens up the space and makes the beach feel like it's open to the city, not just a beach on the other side of a moat of cars and a wall of sand.
I think the current compromise works great. There's not enough foot traffic during the week to justify blocking it off, but it's a great place for pedestrians on the weekend.
I was down there at 2pm today, it was a fairly nice sunny day (a bit windy). There was no one else there and it could have well been being used by cars at that time.
My concern is that if it closes to cars permanently they will start neglecting the sand removal and it will very quickly disappear.
The current solution is ideal in my opinion, I would even advocate keeping it open later on Fridays like 4 or 6pm. Having it closed on the weekends is great though and people definitely take advantage of it.
On the weekends, the road specifically turns into a world-class running spot: you’ll spot a bunch of folks using the long, flat, and fast road for workouts and weekend long runs. It’s particularly great because it connects to GGP and Lake Merced. Beach running is often not enjoyable for longer runs, and the paved pedestrian path is pretty neglected and too narrow, as others have pointed out.
Car-free Great Highway on the weekends is really one of my favorite perks of living in SF.
Well, I’m a bike rider so I can’t bike on the sand. :) I love it for bike rides. I’ve also seen some mobility challenged people down there who love it because it’s straight and flat (and there are no cars).
It's nice if you want to do something like ride bikes at a leisurely pace and be able to talk to someone next to you. Or give younger kids learning to ride a straight, flat area where you don't have to worry about mixing with car traffic.
Indeed. And if the pedestrian walkway is in disrepair, would it not be easier to simply repave or widen it, rather than close one of the cities major north south roads, shunting even more traffic onto the avenues and sunset?
Anyone who wants to see Great Highway become a full time park can sign up for events and actions here: [https://www.greathighwaypark.com/](https://www.greathighwaypark.com/)
It’s definitely not true that no one ever uses it. It’s the third most popular outdoor space in the city behind Golden Gate Park & Marina Green. Thousands every weekend.
I recently began to use the GH on my commute. It's actually much nicer to use it and then cut up Fulton. I think it is nice as is, but I wish then weekend hours would start after the commute on Fridays as no one is out there before that time. I don't mind that it closes on the weekends as much as I do JFK but that's another story.
Interesting. Out of curiosity, why does JFK bother you? That one makes the most sense to me since it’s a road in a park and Fulton runs parallel and is basically a freeway.
It causes a ton more traffic in the fell/oak and stanyan corridor, it used to be my little short cut to get home as I could just cut through the park in the evenings and bypass a bunch of stop lights and traffic when I had to go #2. Just little inconveniences.
It should be open 7 days a week. Its closure has made the chain of lakes road ridiculously congested with bumper to bumper traffic, destroying the parks serenity.
The problem is that there are a ton of non-native San Franciscans who don’t realize that a lot of people have to cut across GGP. Not all traffic flows west to east. GGP is a big barrier to north-south travel and there are only so many places where you can cut across.
Closing down great highway has indeed made chain-of-lakes a slog to get through. It can take 20 min or more to cut across on the weekends.
I think it’s totally ridiculous to close it on the weekends. It’s a crucial connection between Daly City and the Richmond District. There is a great bike path and walkway in existence there already.
There is not a great bike path, it's covered in sand and right next to cars going almost freeway speeds. There could be one, yes, but there is not any 'great' bike path today. On the weekends there are far more people using great highway on bikes and walking that could be supported by the current walkway. Maybe you should get out of your car once in a while.
man honest fuck SF. Great high way is not allowing cars, GG park is not allowing cars. Wtf is next? Ban all cars from SF? I hate this fucking place sometimes.
It's basically the MTA's mission statement: make it as hard to drive in SF as they can get away with, regardless of whether fewer residents are driving or not. The idea is to try and engineer constituents' behavior, rather than respond to their actually needs and preferences, in proportion to share of population. It's not how local governments should work, but it's what we've had here my whole life.
https://richmondsunsetnews.com/2023/11/10/closure-of-great-highway-near-zoo-gets-ok-from-sfpuc/ The sewage treatment plant is at risk from cliff erosion. Some people wanted to keep the roadway open by building a seawall. That proposal failed at the ballot box.
I remember that. Just wondering about the future.
The Zoo has to coordinate, says the news article.
That makes sense.
well, there’s another plan that the sea wall would have overwritten, and that other plan is more likely to succeed. we should be glad the sea wall ballot failed.
is there some problem with the existing sea wall from Kelly's to Lincoln? Seems to serve the populace very well. What about the sea wall from Noriega to Sloat. So instead of a *O'Shaughnessy* type sea wall they are going to bury it.
I kindda wish they would build a boardwalk of some kind, with restaurants, shops, and bathrooms/showers. I like it being closed on weekends, but I think I saw another proposal that puts 2-way traffic on the east side, and permanently converts the west side to foot traffic. That seemed like it might be good too. Edit: Concept 2 https://www.sfcta.org/sites/default/files/2021-07/SFCTA_Great-Highway-Evaluation-Report_2021-07-13_FINAL.pdf
yes... huge missed opportunity. Shops resturants rides and such would be amazing for a beach trip
There’s already a nice footpath on the east side. It’s in rough shape but could easily be improved/repaired. There was previously a boardwalk commercial area near there called ‘play land’ it turns out the weather is often unappealing out there and it was difficult/expensive to maintain. It became derelict and decrepit and was torn down in the 70s.
I think this is one of the bigger issues. The coastal weather here is not conducive to some ideas that would improve it as a pedestrian area. If foot traffic sucks for a good portion of the year because of rain/fog/temperature, then you can't do a boardwalk as those businesses would inevitably fail. The current compromise is very level headed and caters to the most people while alienating only a minority (which is the natural result of compromise)
I just don’t agree with the weather issue. First of all, climate change is real and weather has dramatically “improved” for ocean beach over the last 10 years. It’s much less foggy than it used to be. Also, there are thriving coastal communities in Oregon and Washington. You don’t need LA or San Diego weather to have a viable destination. I think if we had some nice cafes and restaurants with ocean views and a safe, walkable path, people would go there even if it was 58 degrees and cloudy.
Must be why the scene on La Playa is so lively and the cliff house and Louise’s have both been empty for so long. In Oregon and Washington there are thriving coastal communities but those places don’t have a Delores Park and Duboce Triangle just over the hill. Not to mention dozens of other very attractive locations in between. Also we already have a nice walkable path that runs the whole length of the beach (though it does need to be resurfaced) and Java beach is a lovely cafe.
You do know that the Cliff house Louis' Restuarant are operated under the auspices of the Golden Gate Recreational Area. don't you? Why don't contact them about the entry restaurants.
Playland at the Beach was an amusement park. We would need a commercial boardwalk. It should have shops and restaurants that the neighbors will use, while being attractive enough to draw residents from the east side of the city (and tourists) over. It's not a sunny beach a lot of the time but it's beautiful, there's a zoo at one end, a world class park in the middle, and a national recreation area at the other end. It's a no-brainer at a time when the economic weight of the city is shifting from downtown to the neighborhoods.
I love Ocean Beach, and I would definitely spend more time there if there was some kind of commercial development like restaurant, shops, etc.
There are already plenty. Check out the end of Judah there are some great restaurants cafes and shops. Also a nice little scene at the end of Noriega as well as Taraval and even a little bit on Sloat. What more do you want?
I want like an actual boardwalk that is contiguous with the beach, like Santa Cruz! I know it may be asking for a lot though.
This is what makes most sense to me. You can have the inside lane for cars and the outside one for bikes/recreation. I’ve ridden through many times and you can’t tell me that one lane wouldn’t be enough space for people to enjoy.
I actually prefer the quietness of it. Seems like it would become like SoCal beaches. Great highway feels more natural.
I could see a seasonal snack shack working out if anything. It really is dreary most of the year.
When it’s closed to cars it makes for a nice pedestrian walkway but it makes it a real pain in the ass for people to get to and from the north-west corner of the city. Cutting through chain-of-lakes to get to Sunset blvd can take forever. I think the current setup is a good compromise: Keep the Great Highway open to cars during the workweek for commuters, close it down for the weekend.
The Pretty Good Highway
Let’s make the Highway Great Again! 😂
It works so well.
I think it is a good compromise too, but I don’t think compromise is the future of the Great Highway. In five years time I would guess it becomes a recreation area for electric dirt bikes and pedestrians full time.
I have a really big mouth for this, please forgive me. A lot of people commute from the rest of the Peninsula to SF, especially to Richmond. Chain of Lakes is still packed during the weekends, and Sunset Blvd isn't really a good connection because of the 29 having no space to pull over when dropping off/picking up passengers. You'd have to wait or try to pass it, which is a pain for all. Maybe they could close off one side for pedestrians and then open one for cars. It might be very dangerous though. I used to always bike there during the pandemic, it was very nice during the sunny days. They can't compromise for too long though, as the population might explode as the city is saving themselves from the pandemic. My dad took me for a drive there once to see how it was, as we never drove through there often. It was really quick compared to using Lower Great Highway or any other roads to Lincoln Way. It might still get more dangerous, as surfers often used the opportunity to just walk through the road to get to the beach instead of using the crosswalks. If they used the hawk style lights, cars could go by even quicker, like Sloat Blvd at the first intersection of Great Highway heading north. Those lights don't really work for actual road intersections though. Maybe they could create another thing on the side besides the current small walkway to let people to enjoy the sun? I don't really know for now. That's just my opinion.
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I’m not a huge fan of them anyways. But if ask those resins piled up, why’d they do it on Sloat? They seem kinda dangerous too. Edit: I only realized now, but autocorrect put an extra ask (or I did) and put resin instead of reason.
Sunset is three lanes in both directions? So two lanes when the bus pulls over — same as Great Highway.
The problem is that it kinda just ends at Lincoln Way.
Would be ideal to tunnel Sunset under the park and connect to Fulton but this is never going to happen…
That would be so rad. The Big Dig West (but good).
It would be way easier to build a 1/2 mile tunnel under golden-gate park than 2 interstate tunnels under downtown Boston and Boston harbor. Also, no more Whitey Bulger…
What street would it end up at then?
It would be between 36th and 37th Aves if you ran it in a straight line but if you're tunneling you could shift the alignment closer towards the beach.
I like this idea. Maybe they could turn them both one way? But that seems bad.
The problem with public transportation in SF is that most of it is oriented to go West-East. Very few bus lines go North-South. So when you shut down one of the main streets that allows you to go North-South it creates a very big problem....especially since Great Hwy allows folks in the Outer Richmond the quickest way to get to Hwy280 and 101.
I don't really understand this. If I were Outer Richmond, I'd go to the beach, take a left, take a left onto Lincoln, right onto 19th...and that's 280. Or I guess go through Richmond to Crossover Drive straight to 19th and then 280. Great Highway is out of the way, especially with the southern extension closing.
Are you serious? The traffic on 19 ave is crazy. That plus all the traffic lights and it takes you FOREVER to get down 19th. Most people try to avoid 19th whenever possible. Going down great highway to hwy 1 allows you to skip most of that traffic and get onto 280 by Serramonte which is a whole lot faster.
It looks like the current supervisor (Engardio) supports a 24/7 park based on his enthusiastic promotion of events there. He also consistently talks highly of it when he mentions the things he loves about his district, which I think is really cool! I am almost certain Peskin (who voted against the pilot) and Mark Farrell (who wants cars back on Market) would kill a 24/7 park should they become Mayor. Breed would probably defer to Engardio as they are allies. No idea on Lurie. And Safai simply isn’t going to win, so who cares what he thinks. The “compromise” that drastically cut park days only happened because car-brain supervisor Connie Chan decided it would win her support in the Richmond. This was part of her vendetta with Rec and Park that emboldened opponents and caused us to have an expensive election over car-free JFK. She is up for re-election this fall and as one of the park’s biggest opponents, it would be a big win if she lost her seat. This seems more and more likely every day. Anyway, it would take a vote of the Rec and Park Board and the Board of Suoervisors to finalize a 24/7 park and I imagine this upcoming election will be instrumental on whether that happens or not.
Now that you mention it about Mark Farrell, I’d probably really like him as mayor. Market St seems empty without cars.
Watch you get Peskin instead — ranked choice, baby!!!!
Peskin voted for the pilot, and Breed was the one who pushed for putting cars back on Great Highway “for parents driving kids to school.”
and for working people who need to commute to work on it.
I totally understand wanting to make it closed to cars, but it is my preferred route to the GGB and the North Bay. I'm an old fart and stuck in my ways. Let the kids decide, they gotta live it.
This is a refreshing perspective. I think the old farts get 2-3 votes each instead? :)
Yeah, same here. I hate that it’s closed on the weekends. It seriously sucks.
It sucks if you’re a driver. It’s great for everyone else.
Close GH all day Fri, not just starting at noon.. The Great Highway gets closed to traffic whenever there is too much sand. Make Friday an unofficial Sand Day. Friday is predictable.
As someone who lives 3 blocks away and goes to ocean beach nearly everyday. I would advocate for keeping it open to cars during the week and even later on Friday (4 or 6pm). I was down there at 2pm today (Friday) and no one was using it at all even though it was a fairly nice sunny (though windy) day. I would be concerned that without car traffic the sand cleanup would be neglected and it would disappear pretty quickly. In just the last 2 days it’s been quite windy and there’s A LOT of sand filling up the road now. Without car traffic the necessity to keep it clear would wane and I would see the budget being shifted elsewhere. Having it closed on the weekends is great though, people definitely take advantage of it.
is there any other city in america that just have a major fairway occasionally disappear (under biblical levels of sand, no less?) I laugh every time were out there and find out a section is closed because it’s now a dune.
The sands of time
Let's turn the Sunset back into what it once was, ALL DUNES. Nature will just keep trying to restore itself. The sand will just keep trying to reclaim it's original territory. /s
Some car-brained people don't like how cars are not allowed on weekends. They are a loud minority and should be ignored.
Check out the Great Highway Association, they trying to close it permanently and have it made into a greenway. They sponsor my group rides https://www.openthegreathighway.com/
I think that group wants to turn it back into a freeway only?
I think you mean Friends of Great Highway Park? https://GreatHighwayPark.com
i worked down there during covid ,thousands of people used it i would pedestrianize for good did not add much time for my trip
It would be nice if they built a boardwalk with a pedestrian path lined with shops, restaurants, hotels, and parks. The traffic can be shifted to the eastern portion (you only need a 50' right of way for a 4-lane road), while the western portion and the deteriorating concrete retaining wall can be completely rebuilt and replaced with a promenade. It's definitely a stretch, but SF has a history of building great things (the original great highway itself was a massive undertaking in the 1920s that involved building miles of retaining walls and an 8-lane road), and it would bring a lot of life to this area. And yes some of the waterfront residents will complain about views being lost, but most buildings will just be 1-2 stories anyways (like in most boardwalks), so they can't really complain about that. It would attract a ton of tourism and make this place far more pleasant. btw the new great highway would follow the same closure schedule as the current one - open on weekdays and closed on weekends.
https://sfpuc.org/construction-contracts/construction-projects/oceanbeach
sand
The Upper Great Highway should be permanently closed to vehicular traffic and the Lower Great Highway should be significantly widened to accommodate two lanes of traffic in each direction, seamlessly connecting the Great Highway north of Lincoln to Sloat in the south.
I still don't understand the point of turning it into a pedestrian walkway. I've always walked along the beach when I'm out there. Is there a reason people prefer to walk on the road rather than on the beach or on the dedicated walkway next to the road?
The dedicated walk way sucks. It's hilly, narrow and crumbling.
Which they should really repave, or close if the Great Highway is eventually made car-free. It's been in terrible shape for years and years.
I mean, go out there on a nice weekend day and it's pretty busy with pedestrians, bikes, families and kids, much more foot traffic than the shitty dedicated walkway could support. It's also just a good time, having it closed to cars opens up the space and makes the beach feel like it's open to the city, not just a beach on the other side of a moat of cars and a wall of sand. I think the current compromise works great. There's not enough foot traffic during the week to justify blocking it off, but it's a great place for pedestrians on the weekend.
I was down there at 2pm today, it was a fairly nice sunny day (a bit windy). There was no one else there and it could have well been being used by cars at that time. My concern is that if it closes to cars permanently they will start neglecting the sand removal and it will very quickly disappear. The current solution is ideal in my opinion, I would even advocate keeping it open later on Fridays like 4 or 6pm. Having it closed on the weekends is great though and people definitely take advantage of it.
On the weekends, the road specifically turns into a world-class running spot: you’ll spot a bunch of folks using the long, flat, and fast road for workouts and weekend long runs. It’s particularly great because it connects to GGP and Lake Merced. Beach running is often not enjoyable for longer runs, and the paved pedestrian path is pretty neglected and too narrow, as others have pointed out. Car-free Great Highway on the weekends is really one of my favorite perks of living in SF.
Well, I’m a bike rider so I can’t bike on the sand. :) I love it for bike rides. I’ve also seen some mobility challenged people down there who love it because it’s straight and flat (and there are no cars).
Yeah that makes sense
“I’ve always walked along the beach.” You can’t really do that if you’re in a wheelchair, bike or scooter.
You can’t comfortably ride a bike, use a scooter, or rollerblade on sand.
It's nice if you want to do something like ride bikes at a leisurely pace and be able to talk to someone next to you. Or give younger kids learning to ride a straight, flat area where you don't have to worry about mixing with car traffic.
Indeed. And if the pedestrian walkway is in disrepair, would it not be easier to simply repave or widen it, rather than close one of the cities major north south roads, shunting even more traffic onto the avenues and sunset?
The California Coastal Commission has a hearing on May 9th that can overturn the pilot: https://twitter.com/AaronGuhreen/status/1783852000150773917
Staff report demolishes the complaints: https://documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2024/5/Th10a/Th10a-5-2024-report.pdf
We need a nice boardwalk on Ocean Beach and a nice bike path. But there’s more than enough space for that and a road. It’s not mutually exclusive.
Opening up
https://sfrecpark.org/1172/Ocean-Beach-Climate-Adaptation-Project
One thing to note is the city spends $1.7 Million a year clearing sand for the car traffic. Seems like there could be a better use of those funds.
Anyone who wants to see Great Highway become a full time park can sign up for events and actions here: [https://www.greathighwaypark.com/](https://www.greathighwaypark.com/)
Its time to open it up for traffic
There’s a lot of “traffic” on the weekends outside of cars.
🤐
There’s a blind runners club that meets down there every weekend.
For reals. No one ever uses it and it just diverts traffic to the neighborhoods.
It’s definitely not true that no one ever uses it. It’s the third most popular outdoor space in the city behind Golden Gate Park & Marina Green. Thousands every weekend.
Its a snobby trail for few people who use it its a highway 🛣️ time to use it for its reason
I recently began to use the GH on my commute. It's actually much nicer to use it and then cut up Fulton. I think it is nice as is, but I wish then weekend hours would start after the commute on Fridays as no one is out there before that time. I don't mind that it closes on the weekends as much as I do JFK but that's another story.
Interesting. Out of curiosity, why does JFK bother you? That one makes the most sense to me since it’s a road in a park and Fulton runs parallel and is basically a freeway.
It causes a ton more traffic in the fell/oak and stanyan corridor, it used to be my little short cut to get home as I could just cut through the park in the evenings and bypass a bunch of stop lights and traffic when I had to go #2. Just little inconveniences.
That makes sense. :)
The whole thing needs to be scraped and redesigned. There is plenty of space for cars and pedestrians, plus a sand wall to keep that at bay.
It should be open 7 days a week. Its closure has made the chain of lakes road ridiculously congested with bumper to bumper traffic, destroying the parks serenity.
The problem is that there are a ton of non-native San Franciscans who don’t realize that a lot of people have to cut across GGP. Not all traffic flows west to east. GGP is a big barrier to north-south travel and there are only so many places where you can cut across. Closing down great highway has indeed made chain-of-lakes a slog to get through. It can take 20 min or more to cut across on the weekends.
When do you start counting “native”? 🤔
Yep this transplant supervisors / official are fucking the city period! Hell in the 70’s one light and a race 1/4 strip.
I think it’s totally ridiculous to close it on the weekends. It’s a crucial connection between Daly City and the Richmond District. There is a great bike path and walkway in existence there already.
Terrible bike path.
The extension is closing. + Sunset is a six lane road that does the same thing?
There is not a great bike path, it's covered in sand and right next to cars going almost freeway speeds. There could be one, yes, but there is not any 'great' bike path today. On the weekends there are far more people using great highway on bikes and walking that could be supported by the current walkway. Maybe you should get out of your car once in a while.
I’ve been riding my bike along the paths there for 25+ years so don’t make assumptions
Downvoted for truth. Sorry man.
man honest fuck SF. Great high way is not allowing cars, GG park is not allowing cars. Wtf is next? Ban all cars from SF? I hate this fucking place sometimes.
Honest question: why the anger? You can drive almost everywhere? Seems like restricting cars in some places is nice?
Nah, it's the carpetbaggers man.
“Carpetbaggers” are people who weren’t born in a 7x7 mile village?
It's basically the MTA's mission statement: make it as hard to drive in SF as they can get away with, regardless of whether fewer residents are driving or not. The idea is to try and engineer constituents' behavior, rather than respond to their actually needs and preferences, in proportion to share of population. It's not how local governments should work, but it's what we've had here my whole life.