SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – San Francisco Supervisor Gordon Mar has introduced legislation that would keep the Great Highway along Ocean Beach closed to vehicles on weekends and holidays for another three years.
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The Upper Great Highway, from Lincoln Way to Sloan Boulevard, was completely barred from car traffic at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, before those restrictions were relaxed last August and the city began allowing vehicles through on weekends and holidays.
Mar's proposal, introduced to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, would keep that policy in place until December 31, 2025.
Without legislative action, the roadway would completely reopen to motorists once the city lifts its COVID-19 emergency. Mar hoped his proposal gives the city a short-term solution and buys it enough time to devise a permanent plan for the highway by the time the legislation ends.
"Not everybody is fully happy with it, but I think most people feel like it’s a fair compromise," Mar told the San Francisco Chronicle. "After that southern stretch closes, we’ll evaluate the new traffic patterns ... and move toward a decision about the main stretch of the Great Highway."
The controversial decision to close the Great Highway has elicited a lightning rod of responses from residents and visitors to San Francisco on both sides of the issue.
Some argued that the closure disrupts neighborhood access and hurts businesses. Community activists recently started a petition and hope to gather enough signatures to place a measure on the November ballot which would keep the Great Highway open indefinitely. Others want the road to remain shut off to vehicles, and were disappointed when it partially reopened last year after it became a popular pedestrian walkway and bicycle path during the pandemic.
"I am supportive of that as the future of the Great Highway, but I also am very much committed to making sure that we plan for it properly and address any negative impacts, particularly on traffic flow on the west side," Mar told the paper. "I think this gives us time to come up with that plan."
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