People walk on the Upper Great Highway past a giant giraffe sculpture at the Sunset Dunes in the Sunset district on Nov. 14, 2025 in San Francisco.
Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle
A rainy day last Sunday forced the rescheduling of Ploverfest, a celebration of the first anniversary of the official opening of Sunset Dunes; however, it didn’t dampen what’s been a good year for San Francisco’s newest park.
From April 12 of last year through March, more than 1.7 million people have visited Sunset Dunes, nearly 40,000 per week, making it one of San Francisco’s most popular parks, according to the city’s Recreation and Parks Department.
These days, most people visiting the park are enjoying the ocean views and probably aren’t thinking much about the dissension surrounding its creation.
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A reminder: Sunset Dunes is the result of Proposition K, a 2024 ballot measure that closed the 2 miles of the Upper Great Highway to car traffic for recreational space.
Then-District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio championed putting Prop K on the ballot and its passage — 55% of voters approved it citywide. However, in Engardio’s district — largely the Outer Sunset next to the Upper Great Highway — about 64% of voters opposed Prop K.
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In this recall-happy era of politics, you know where this was headed. District 4 voters ousted Engardio in a recall election last September.
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Sunset Dunes’ anniversary brought back memories of the Great Highway debate. The Chronicle editorial board also happens to be doing endorsement interviews this week with candidates running in the June election for District 4 supervisor, who could play a key role in Sunset Dunes’ future.
Most of the candidates want San Francisco voters to decide again on the Great Highway question.
Mayor Daniel Lure’s second appointment to fill the District 4 supervisor seat (that’s a story in itself) is Alan Wong, who was a member of the City College of San Francisco Board of Trustees. He faces four candidates in the special election to finish Engardio’s term, which ends in January:
Albert Chow owns a hardware store in the Sunset and was one of the leaders of the recall campaign.
Natalie Gee is an aide for District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton.
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Jeremy Greco is a campus coordinator at a San Francisco school.
David Lee is a political science instructor and a former Recreation and Parks Commission member.
All except Greco support a signature-collecting drive to place a citizen’s initiative on the November ballot, asking voters to reopen the Great Highway to cars during the week, relegating Sunset Dunes to a weekend affair.
I’ve written in support of a park, even as a resident of the Outer Sunset, and want to see it developed beyond a closed road to its full potential. It would be a long-term benefit for the city.
Sunset Dunes is a hit — 1.7 million visits attest to that.
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As for traffic worries, there are the inevitable backups, and some commutes may be a bit longer, but the worst fears about the Great Highway’s closure haven’t come true. Independent analyses of data by the city, the Chronicle and the Frisc all found more rush-hour traffic on some routes (particularly Chain of Lakes Road, which crosses Golden Gate Park) and less on others, but it hasn’t been total gridlock.
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The whole ordeal raises a question about the role of district supervisors. Certainly, they should serve their constituents, but what about when what district voters want conflicts with what might be better for the entire city?
It’s a question we’ll ask the candidates as San Francisco confronts issues like its housing crisis and the survival of Muni, which need the whole city working together to solve.
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