{"id":411170,"date":"2026-07-24T20:14:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T20:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/411170\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T20:14:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T20:14:57","slug":"san-francisco-voters-will-vote-again-on-the-great-highway-this-november","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/411170\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco Voters Will Vote, Again, on the Great Highway This November"},"content":{"rendered":"

A proposal to reopen the westside road to vehicles on weekdays has officially qualified for the ballot.\n<\/p>\n

Jul 24, 2026<\/p>\n

Updated 12:55 pm PT<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A visitor jogs through Sunset Dunes, a park on the former Great Highway roadway, in San Francisco\u2019s Sunset neighborhood on April 9, 2026.\u00a0(Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/p>\n

San Francisco voters will once again be asked to decide whether to keep cars off of the Great Highway<\/a>. A proposal to reopen the westside road to vehicles on weekdays has officially qualified for the ballot.<\/p>\n

The election this November will be the third time in nearly four years that the Great Highway debate has gone before voters. The measure would put cars back on the Great Highway on weekdays and keep it open as a park on weekends, and is fueled by a group of residents who have not given up the battle to bring vehicles back after years of debate and multiple losses at the ballot box.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This time, they say, is different.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that San Franciscans have experienced both the compromise and the 24\/7 closure, I believe that voters can fully weigh the pros and cons at the ballot box,\u201d said Supervisor Alan Wong, who supports reopening the Great Highway to vehicles on weekdays. \u201cAt the end of the day, I have to prioritize those commuting to work, home or school over weekday recreational use of the highway.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong points to a map highlighting traffic incidents in 2024 and 2025 in the Sunset District during a press conference about the Great Highway at City Hall in San Francisco on Jan. 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

But critics of the proposal say it\u2019s resurfacing an outdated idea that voters have already soundly rejected.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe voters of San Francisco already voted to allow San Franciscans to adapt to climate change in a positive and joyful way that is to the benefit of all,\u201d Supervisor Myrna Melgar said in a statement. \u201cThis cynical and expensive attempt to destroy a beautiful park will fail.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Francisco closed a two-mile stretch of the Great Highway during the pandemic to allow more space for recreation and social distancing. It quickly amassed fans from residents around the Bay Area who flocked to the open road to bike, skateboard or stroll around.<\/p>\n

In 2024, voters citywide passed Proposition K, permanently removing cars from the road, which has since been converted into a beachside park called Sunset Dunes. But the majority of voters who live closest to the westside thoroughfare voted against it, and efforts to put cars back on the Great Highway have continued to dominate local politics in the residential, car-heavy Sunset District.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"A sign for Sunset Dunes, a park on the former Great Highway roadway, in San Francisco\u2019s Sunset neighborhood on April 9, 2026.<\/p>\n

Other park supporters point out how the lower portion of the Great Highway is already closed due to coastal erosion, and say the city must adapt the road for the changing coastline.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A more recent analysis from SFMTA found that this November\u2019s ballot measure to allow cars back onto the Great Highway during weekdays would cost around $14 million. Much of the price tag would go toward fixing the street lights and signage that have not been used since Sunset Dunes opened.<\/p>\n

The measure to close Sunset Dunes on weekdays is already facing opposition from several neighborhood groups and city leaders, including a majority of the Board of Supervisors.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpending nearly $20 million we don\u2019t have is irresponsible,\u201d Supervisor Stephen Sherrill said in a statement. \u201cLet\u2019s stay focused on clean and safe streets, and on addressing the massive housing crisis in our city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporters of the measure say it offers the neighborhood a compromise after years of fighting over the closed road.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Albert Chow, a business owner of Great Wall in the Sunset District, walks through Taraval Street in San Francisco on Sept. 3, 2025. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not trying to take it all away from the park. There are ways to make this beautiful piece of land work for everybody,\u201d Chow said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t make me happy that we are having this fight, but it wasn\u2019t thoroughly thought out as to all of the unintended consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the price tag for reopening the roadway to cars, Chow said, \u201cI hate to say it, too bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunset Dunes supporters meanwhile say there is no compromise to be had, because clearing the road for cars only some days would mean removing the public art, skatepark and other installations that now scatter the former road.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To defeat the measure, Lux said that supporters of Sunset Dunes will focus on \u201cgetting facts\u201d before voters in the upcoming election cycle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact is, this measure would close and demolish the park in order to reconstruct a roadway that voters already understand is failing,\u201d Lux said. \u201cWe want to make sure that voters understand their choice. They have this one piece of land. Do they want it to be a successful park that is better for our people and environment, or do they want to destroy that park and turn it back into a roadway for a small group of people who have no demonstrable concerns other than anger?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A proposal to reopen the westside road to vehicles on weekdays has officially qualified for the ballot. Jul…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-411170","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\/411170","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=411170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}