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Some fifty volunteer safe-and-livable-streets advocates assembled on the Great Highway Park at the end of Judah Street on Saturday. They were there to open the campaign for a November ballot measure that would convert the Great Highway, from Lincoln to Sloat, into a permanent, 24-7 park. Right now it is car-free only on weekends. The advocates hope to convince the majority of city residents that future generations will wonder, just as with other major turning points in San Francisco history, how it ever could have been controversial to convert the Great Highway into a full-time park.
"This is for your children and your children's children," said District 4 Supervisor and Ocean Beach Park supporter Joel Engardio in an address to the crowd. "This is a positive, forward-looking moment."
"This is Rec and Park land," explained District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who also spoke at the event. "We could have just gotten it over with [via a vote of the Supervisors]. Instead, we're going to the voters. Instead, I'm giving it all to you."
That, of course, gives Engardio and Melgar political cover within their own districts, where the creation of the park may be less popular than it is citywide. Results of 2022's propositions "J" and "I" have shown that a ballot initiative could be the way forward. Streetsblog's readers will recall that "J," which passed by a wide margin, approved converting J.F.K. Drive into a permanent car-free promenade. "I," on the other hand, was bankrolled by DuPont Chemical heir and Trump-backer Dede Wilsey, and sought to get cars back on J.F.K. and make it so cars would forever run on the full length of the Great Highway, 24/7. Not only did voters approve "J," but "I" failed by 64 percent, sending a clear message that the people want car-free spaces, and not just on weekends. Wilsey, rather than setting back the cause of safe-and-livable streets as she had intended, showed advocates the way to create permanent car-free spaces.
In other words, the majority of San Francisco residents don't really need convincing that a permanent, full-time Ocean Beach Park is a good idea, they just need to be reminded to vote on it one last time. And that's why neighborhood canvassing is so important.
November's ballot initiative, if it succeeds, would make it impossible for a future San Francisco Board of Supervisors to reverse course and open the road to cars again. It will make it so the parks department can add chairs, tables, bathrooms, art work, and food stands where now there are highway lanes. Melgar added that creating Ocean Beach Park will result not just in a great amenity for the people of San Francisco, but an internationally recognized open space and tourist attraction, connected to the adjoining neighborhoods. "If you're driving on the Great Highway now you can't stop at Java Cafe," she said, since there are no off-ramps on the stretch between Lincoln and Sloat. That means the Great Highway, as currently configured, contributes nothing to local commerce. That will all change if the measure passes.
Advocate Josh Kelly took over the mic to lead a crash course in leafleting and canvassing to the blue-shirted attendees. "We can't rely on traditional politics for this; we have to talk with our neighbors."
Kelly asked everyone to break into groups depending on their district and practice their elevator pitches for the "Yes for Ocean Beach Park" campaign. "We are asking voters to approve making a new park on Ocean Beach," he belted out, to kick off the exercise.
Many of the participants had met up at Duboce Park an hour earlier for a group ride to the Great Highway for the event. Molly Hayden, a self-described serial advocate from the Lower Haight, kept the ride festive with a large speaker for music and a machine that sprayed bubbles from her cargo bike. But why does she support the Ocean Beach Park campaign? For one, she read the studies that show the section of the Great Highway from Lincoln Way to Sloat is redundant, given the proximity to the Sunset Boulevard freeway, which it parallels. "I put my faith in SFMTA's studies that Sunset and 19th can handle the traffic," she told Streetsblog.
"I believe in the power of open spaces and shifting people out of cars and into the community," said Al Hawley, another advocate who participated in the ride to the rally. "I love Ocean Beach," said Maya Chaffee, adding that with the highway closed the city can activate the space with tables and chairs and art, much as they did with the J.F.K. Promenade in Golden Gate Park. Andres Mora, who also joined the ride to the Great Highway, sees the important safety aspect of converting it into a park during the week: he commutes by e-bike to downtown San Francisco from Pacifica. "I've had some very, very close calls on the Great Highway," he said.
The group that rode in from Duboce Park got to sample a bit of what the Great Highway can become, riding on the now-transformed J.F.K Promenade, past exactly the kind of artwork and tables and chairs Chaffee cited. Indeed, where once there was whizzing traffic, families were out playing and enjoying the crisp misty air in Golden Gate Park.
Back at the beach, after the rally was done, the advocates grabbed stacks of flyers and set out for intersections, grocery stores, and other areas frequented by pedestrians. It was time to start getting the word out about the vote coming in November.
"This is a positive, forward-looking moment that nobody is going to be denied," said Engardio at the rally. "We're going to get this done," added Melgar.
Want to get involved? Reach out to the campaign.
