{"id":401778,"date":"2026-07-17T04:06:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T04:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/401778\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T04:06:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T04:06:19","slug":"after-closing-it-to-cars-during-the-pandemic-6-years-ago-sf-is-officially-turning-this-scenic-city-boulevard-into-a-full-time-pedestrian-promenade-its-part-of-a-planned-550-mile-tr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/401778\/","title":{"rendered":"After closing it to cars during the pandemic 6 years ago, SF is officially turning this scenic city boulevard into a full-time pedestrian promenade \u2014 it\u2019s part of a planned 550-mile trail that traces the Bay Area\u2019s ridgelines"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"View<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMikheil Kuzmidi \/ Unsplash<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0\u2013\u00a0
\n\t\t\t\tSenior Staff Writer\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0
\n\t\t\tJuly 16, 2026<\/p>\n

In April 2026, San Francisco broke ground on the Twin Peaks Promenade Project, a long-planned effort to convert Twin Peaks Boulevard into a car-free trail. <\/p>\n

A large section of the boulevard has already been closed to cars since 2020, when the city first started pedestrianizing streets during the COVID pandemic. The new project makes that change permanent, featuring a new linear park with two types of trails, seating areas, and overlooks. <\/p>\n

Once completed, the promenade will become a new section of the planned Bay Area Ridge Trail<\/a>, an enormous trail network that traces the ridgelines around the Bay Area.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a closer look\u2026<\/p>\n

The Twin Peaks Promenade Project<\/p>\n

Led by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, the Twin Peaks Promenade Project will transform the car-free stretch of roadway into a linear park. The design features two parallel paths: a paved, ADA-accessible route for strollers, wheelchairs, and cyclists, alongside a softer natural trail for runners and walkers.<\/p>\n

Other planned amenities and upgrades include scenic overlooks, seating areas, bike racks, and concrete seat walls that can double as informal skate features. Native plantings will help restore the surrounding habitat, while improved signage and wayfinding will highlight the area\u2019s natural features, such as the Mission Blue Butterfly habitat. <\/p>\n

For now, portions of the summit remain closed during work, including the popular footpath to Crestline Drive. Construction is expected to continue through next year, with an estimated opening planned for mid-2027.<\/p>\n

The project is part of SF Rec & Park\u2019s broader, years-long effort to rehabilitate Twin Peaks\u2019 trail network, addressing erosion, safety concerns, and wayfinding gaps. <\/p>\n

A link in the Bay Area Ridge Trail<\/p>\n

The Twin Peaks Promenade is yet another piece in the puzzle for the much larger Bay Area Ridge Trail<\/a>, a planned 550-mile network connecting the ridgelines across all nine Bay Area counties. The 1.2-mile section through Twin Peaks Open Space is already one of the most striking segments, boasting 360-degree views over the city. <\/p>\n

National Geographic\u2018s Stephanie Pearson recently featured the Bay Area Ridge Trail in the new book, 100 Hikes of a Lifetime U.S.A.<\/a>, describing it as \u201ca wild urban oasis.\u201d According to Pearson, the trail was first conceptualized in the 1960s by William Penn Mott, Jr., who later became the director of the National Park Service.<\/p>\n

Mott imagined a continuous trail that follows the Bay Area\u2019s ridgelines. After breaking ground in the late 1980s, the project has grown to cover about 400 miles, or 70% of the envisioned route. It may take another 20 years to finish the remaining 30%, but you can already enjoy numerous open segments through Sonoma, Napa, the Marin Headlands, the Presidio, San Jose, and the East Bay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mikheil Kuzmidi \/ Unsplash \u00a0\u2013\u00a0 Senior Staff Writer \u00a0\u00b7\u00a0 July 16, 2026 In April 2026, San Francisco broke…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-401778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}