Several San Francisco streets closed to car traffic when the pandemic began, and it looks like they might stay that way for the near future based on a recent court ruling.
A Superior Court judge has decided not to force San Francisco to reopen several streets on the western side of the city that have been closed to cars, at least part-time, since the pandemic shutdowns went into effect.
The streets in contention include portions of the Great Highway along Ocean Beach and Golden Gate Park's John F. Kennedy Drive. Those two were closed to private vehicles early in the pandemic, and a portion of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive followed a few months later.
"JFK Drive and the Great Highway became respites from isolation," said San Francisco Recreation and Park Department General Manager Phil Ginsburg. "Places to connect with each other and improve our mental and physical health."
But some are arguing that it's time to reopen the roads, especially since shelter-in-place is no longer in effect in the city, and hasn't been for some time.
"It was clear that a number of these road closures were designed, while shelter-in-place was in effect," said Charley Perkins with the Open the Great Highway Alliance, a community non-profit dedicated to the road. "Well, the shelter-in-place ended a long, long time ago."
The Great Highway has reopened, but only part-time, and as a result, the Alliance and other plaintiffs filed a motion to force the city to reopen them full-time.
However, Superior Court Judge Richard Ulmer Jr. rejected the plaintiff's arguments on Thursday and found that they did not have enough to meet the requirements for a preliminary injunction.
Ulmer ruled that San Francisco "had properly exercised its authority under state and local law to temporarily close the roads," according to a statement released by the City Attorney's office on Thursday. "Also, the Court found that there was a high level of interest to continue using the streets for walking, rolling, hiking, and strolling during the pandemic."
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors ultimately will decide the long-term fate of the roads.
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