{"id":475273,"date":"2026-09-25T11:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T11:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/475273\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T11:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T11:54:10","slug":"students-weigh-in-on-whether-or-not-to-reopen-the-great-highway-golden-gate-xpress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/475273\/","title":{"rendered":"Students weigh in on whether or not to reopen the Great Highway \u2013 Golden Gate Xpress"},"content":{"rendered":"

Proposition G appears on San Francisco\u2019s Nov. 3 general election, petitioning to allow private vehicles to drive the Upper Great Highway between Lincoln Way and Sloat Boulevard from 4 a.m. Monday through 6 p.m. Friday.<\/p>\n

The Great Highway would remain closed to private vehicles from Friday evening through Monday morning and on holidays. During weekday hours, Sunset Dunes Park would no longer be open for public recreation.<\/p>\n

Following voter approval of Proposition K in November 2024, the Upper Great Highway was permanently closed to private vehicles and converted into Sunset Dunes Park.<\/p>\n

Students driving to SFSU from south of campus could anticipate changes to their commute.<\/p>\n

Sal Argueta, a first-semester mechanical engineering student, grew up in Pacifica. Since the Great Highway\u2019s closure, his drives have taken additional time and miles compared to when he was in high school.\u00a0Argueta attributed the Great Highway\u2019s closure to the source of additional commute time and referenced how the drive\u2019s experience has changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to add some more miles, some more traffic minutes,\u201d Argueta said. \u201cI like the coastal drive and the views that I get to see. I do miss driving up the Great Highway.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A surfer walks through Sunset Dunes while construction workers look at the ocean on Sept. 23, 2026. (Julian Olson \/ Golden Gate Xpress)<\/p>\n

Ron Hayduk, a political science professor, mentioned the community\u2019s differing views about the measure. Hayduk believes the disagreement reflects competing concerns about transportation and public space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSupporters of reopening the road emphasize traffic displacement, mobility, accessibility and the effects of the closure on nearby neighborhoods,\u201d Hayduk said. \u201cWhile opponents emphasize recreation, coastal access and maintaining Sunset Dunes as a public space.\u201d<\/p>\n

For many students, the proposition is not limited to commuting. Sunset Dunes is also a public space that students can use outside of school.<\/p>\n

Sarah Mueller, a second-year sociology major at SFSU, said she supports the importance of having places where people can spend time outside of school, work or home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really think that we should get rid of third spaces,\u201d Mueller said. \u201cThose spaces are very important for the welfare of the city and the people living in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students who use the area recreationally could experience a change. SFMTA lists skateboarding among the activities currently taking place on the Upper Great Highway when it is closed to vehicles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If Proposition G passes, skateboarders would still be able to use the roadway during weekend and holiday closures, but the roadway would prioritize private vehicles during the measure\u2019s weekday hours.<\/p>\n

O.J. Diakos skates at Sunset Dunes about every other day. Diakos said the park\u2019s location makes it convenient for him to spend time there while his girlfriend, Rylie Phillips-Stock, a third-year student, is in class.<\/p>\n

Diakos said he often skates at Sunset Dunes and then returns to campus to pick her up. Phillips-Stock also frequently joins him at the Sunset Dunes skate park while he skates.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I usually come here when she\u2019s in class and then I come back. I go back to campus to pick her up,\u201d Diakos said. \u201cSo close. If I were to go to say, like, Golden Gate area, it would probably get stuck and I would get like a 30-minute sesh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniel Montes is communications manager for the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, and spoke about the implications of Proposition G for the park.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince becoming a full-time park, Sunset Dunes has become one of San Francisco\u2019s most visited parks,\u201d Montes said.<\/p>\n

\"\"The main Sunset Dunes sign on Sept. 23, 2026. (Julian Olson \/ Golden Gate Xpress)<\/p>\n

The park recorded more than 1.7 million<\/a> visits during its first year, with 53% occurring on weekdays, according to San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department data.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Prop G passes, Sunset Dunes would no longer operate as a full-time park and the Upper Great Highway would reopen,\u201d Montes said. \u201cThe park\u2019s amenities and interactive installations would be removed. To prepare the roadway for weekday use. The roadway would also be restored and traffic signals installed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The change would have financial implications for the city. The Controller\u2019s Office, which acts as the chief financial officer and independent auditor for San Francisco, estimated that reopening the roadway could cost about $9.8 million initially<\/a>, followed by as much as $1.9 million annually.<\/p>\n

For Argueta, a weekday road and weekend park would address both sides of the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d be fine with it being closed on the weekends and serve as a park,\u201d Argueta said. \u201cIf it was open during the week, that would be quite nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Francisco voters will decide the measure on Nov. 3. The City Hall Voting Center will begin offering in-person voting on Oct. 5, and Election Day polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. The regular deadline to register to vote and receive a ballot by mail is Oct. 19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Proposition G appears on San Francisco\u2019s Nov. 3 general election, petitioning to allow private vehicles to drive the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-475273","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\/475273","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=475273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}