What to know about San Francisco's Proposition K to close the Great Highway

SAN FRANCISCO - With not much else to do during the COVID-19 pandemic, people were forced to go out and enjoy nature. In San Francisco, the Great Highway closed to traffic allowing pedestrians to roam freely and take in ocean views.

Prop K: Opponents worried about traffic, business impacts

San Francisco voters will weigh in on Proposition K on the November ballot, which proposes closing part of the Great Highway to create a park and recreation area from Lincoln Way south to Sloat Boulevard.

What is Prop K?

Now, voters have the opportunity to close the popular stretch of road to private vehicles, seven days a week, permanently establishing public recreation space.

The measure, Proposition K, needs a 50%+1 affirmative vote to pass.

The upper Great Highway is a two-mile segment of the roadway.

San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency boasts this stretch as a 17-acre park with a two-mile promenade on weekends. On weekdays, it is a roadway with an adjacent trail.

What a yes vote means

A yes vote means you want the city to use the Upper Great Highway as public open recreation space, permanently closing it to private motor vehicles seven days a week with limited expectations.

What a no vote means

A no vote means you do not want San Francisco to make these changes.

Who is sponsoring Prop K?

A collective of the San Francisco County Supervisors sponsored the ballot measure including Supervisors Joel Engardio, Myrna Melgar, Dean Preston, Rafael Mandelman, and Matt Dorsey. They submitted the ballot measure in June.

Other supervisors who have cosigned this proposition include mayoral candidate Ahsha Safai and Hilary Ronen.

Prop K is seeing prominent endorsements from Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, State Senator Scott Wiener, and San Francisco Mayor London Breed.

During the pandemic, the Great Highway was closed to private vehicles between Lincoln Way and Sloat Boulevard.

As the public health crisis waned, city officials tried pilot programs to appease both drivers and those who enjoyed the newfound pedestrian freedom from the road’s closure.

No on Prop K rally held in San Francisco

A rally was held on Wednesday to oppose a measure on November's ballot that would shut down the Great Highway at Ocean Beach to private vehicles. They say thousands of people use the roadway daily to get to work, to the V.A. hospital or to visit loved ones. The supervisor who authored the measure says the city is working on making traffic flow improvements to other streets that would see impacts from the closure.

Who opposes Prop K?

While the measure for Prop K made the ballot, opponents said thousands of people use the Great Highway daily to get to work, to access the V.A. hospital and to visit loved ones.

They also wanted the focus to be on the traffic impacts to other neighborhoods.

Supervisor Engardio, who authored the measure, said the city is working on making traffic flow improvements on other city streets.

"There is capacity to get people where they need to go in their cars, and have an oceanside park that would bring immense benefit," said Engardio. "It's good for the environment, it's good for local business and it creates joy for generations of San Franciscans."

Chris Gutierrez, a barista at Ocean Beach Cafe, said he moved to San Francisco a few months ago.

"I’ve heard people say [closing it to traffic] will make greater traffic on Irving Street," said Gutierrez. But he had a difference of opinion. "I’m always down for more green spaces."

Sunset District resident Eliza Panike shared a similar perspective.

"I don’t use the Great Highway as a transit corridor. I use it far more when it is a park," she said.

Mixed reviews

But there are mixed reviews.

"It will divert all the traffic into the neighborhoods," said Bobby Von Merta, a San Francisco native whose house is along the Great Highway. "You’ll only have one access along Sunset Boulevard there, which if you come down here on the weekends, it’s already backed up right now."

Engardio said if Prop K doesn’t pass, The Great Highway south of Sloat Boulevard will have to close next year anyway due to coastal erosion.

"Right now, if people want to ride bikes, they can already do it on the Great Highway. There is a path to jog on both sides," said Albert Chow, owner of the Great Wall Hardware Store on Taraval Street who does not support Prop. K.

In May 2022, the Upper Great Highway was closed to private vehicles on Friday afternoons, weekends and holidays.

According to the SFMTA, in December 2022, the SF Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance to keep this section of the Upper Great Highway as a car-free promenade through December 31, 2025. This ordinance also allowed for a three-year pilot study.

The transit agency’s website says the pilot project ordinance maintains the schedule that the road is closed to private vehicles starting Friday afternoons at 12 p.m. through Monday mornings at 6 a.m. and on holidays.

Voters should note, emergency vehicles, official government vehicles and public transit shuttles would not be impacted by the road closure.

If Prop K passes, it would also require approvals under the California Coastal Act as well as amendments to the city’s general plan.

The current pilot program in place is scheduled to end on December 31, 2025.

The Yes on K – Ocean Beach Park group says the land is owned and managed by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, whose charter states that park land shall be used for recreational purposes.