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The San Francisco County Transportation Authority (CTA) authorized $1 million Tuesday to fund the Golden Gate Greenway, a project to close lanes on a block of the street in the Tenderloin to provide some much-needed green space on a permanent basis. From a release from Supervisor Dean Preston, who sits on the CTA and represents the district:
The funding will allow the Golden Gate Greenway, an oasis in the heart of the Tenderloin, to become permanent with major improvements, converting the 100 block of Golden Gate Avenue from two to one lane of limited vehicle traffic, and activating community green spaces, sitting areas, and family play areas on both sides of the roadway. The proposed design will create a vibrant public open space in the Tenderloin, the neighborhood with the least green space and the most traffic injuries in San Francisco.
As previously reported, it's always a struggle in the Tenderloin (and other areas) to claw even the smallest sections of the asphalt between buildings away from automobile use.
The Golden Gate Greenway was temporarily implemented in the early days of the pandemic. The community and service providers used the space to host things such as outdoor voter registration, COVID-19 pop-up testing, and Play Streets events for children. The vision for the Golden Gate Greenway has near unanimous support from the neighborhood and community leaders who have wrangled with the fire department to push for full implementation of the community’s vision for this block.
“Safe, open green spaces like the Golden Gate Greenway are occurring in other parts of the city. With more than 3,000 children living in the Tenderloin, a path forward for the completion of this Greenway is overdue, and the project continues to receive overwhelmingly positive community support. So we’re pleased the Transportation Authority has chosen to invest in making our block safer for families and residents,” said Nils Behnke, CEO of the Saint Anthony Foundation, one of several groups involved in the effort.
The project was lobbied for by a large group of advocates, including the Tenderloin Community Benefits District, Code Tenderloin, De Marillac Academy, and Community Space S.F.
