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See bottom for information on Saturday's rally for the Ocean Beach Park!
A coalition of professional and volunteer safety advocates released details Tuesday for rallies, logos, and media kits for the fight to make the Great Highway Park—now branded "Ocean Beach Park"—permanent. "With nearly 10,000 visitors each weekend, the part-time promenade is the third most popular park in the city, behind only Golden Gate Park and Crissy Field. The opportunity could not be more clear—we are one vote away from creating San Francisco’s next iconic open space," wrote the advocates in a statement. The coalition includes the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Kid Safe SF, San Francisco Parks Alliance, and Walk SF.
The move comes a day after District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio assured his constituents—even the ones who are vehemently opposed to giving up a portion of car space for other uses—that he's standing by the planned November ballot initiative to decide the future of San Francisco's beach.
The new media information kit sets out to clarify exactly what's being decided in the upcoming vote. For example, "voters are often confused on what is and isn’t changing. We find it helps to show people that the southern portion is closing no matter what, that they can still drive around the park on Great Highway, that we can streamline the path for drivers on Lincoln, etc.," wrote the coalition in its statement.
The main takeaway: as seen in the above map, the "Great Highway" will become a road to nowhere when the southern section closes due to erosion (the portion marked with a hashed red line). Then the question before voters is just what's the best use of the orphaned stretch of highway from Sloat to Lincoln Way? Advocates, obviously, think it's time to turn the beach back into a real beach instead of an orphaned section of highway.
More from the advocates:
Now is the time to plan for the future.
- The Great Highway is becoming a road to nowhere. The southern portion is permanently closing due to coastal erosion. Once this happens, there will no longer be a direct route from the Richmond to Daly City—commuters will need to drive inland to reach southern destinations. That inland route will be a similar distance with or without Ocean Beach Park.
- Traffic is lower today than it was before the pilot park. SFMTA studied the impact of the pilot and determined that:
- Traffic on all roads remains dramatically below pre-pandemic levels. Traffic on Great Highway is down 40%.
- The maximum trip time impact of a full-time park would be 3 minutes for some rush hour trips from Outer Richmond to Daly City.
- The Great Highway is an unreliable roadway that is expensive to maintain. It’s closed unexpectedly up to 65 days per year due to sand accumulation. Clearing the sand costs the city $1.7M each year.
- The cost to create a new park is minimal. The Controller’s Office estimates that taxpayers will save over $4M by converting the space into a promenade. Low-cost improvements like seating will be funded with the existing park budget, and long-term park improvements will be planned and funded through the Recreation and Parks capital planning process.
- We can reduce the impact even further. Work is in process to improve commuting on new inland routes, including replacing stop signs with signal lights on Lincoln and improving the intersection of Sloat and Skyline. These improvements can reduce the traffic impact even further.
The time to decide is now. After 11 public hearings before 5 commissions, 5 reports, 3 studies, and 5 city projects, it’s time to let the voters decide. This is the only election scheduled before the current pilot expires in 2025. In addition, the city needs to work proactively to address the traffic impacts of the southern extension closure; making this decision now allows for smart planning to keep traffic moving.
The coalition is also holding a kickoff rally, set for Saturday, July 27 at 2 p.m. at Judah and Great Highway for photos, speeches, and "good vibes." (RSVP and add it to your calendar). For people riding from the east side, there will be a family-friendly community ride starting at Duboce Park at 12:30 p.m, with a roll-out at 1. (Ride details, RSVP, and add it to your calendar).
There will also be info about upcoming campaign events. Sign up to volunteer here.
