SAN FRANCISCO—The Great Highway Park Initiative has a plan to keep the Great Highway in San Francisco closed to motor vehicles. The Great Highway was initially closed in April 2020 for regular maintenance and has remained closed under COVID-19 restrictions, according to San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department.
On Sunday, May 16 at 10:30 a.m., The Great Highway Park Initiative held a rally on the Great Highway to promote the ideas of reducing traffic, making streets safer, improving the park and including all access to the park.
“Since the pandemic, it’s become an amazing place for kids to play for people inside the city to feel safe — without cars — and that danger,” said march organizer Brian Reyes to KPIX News.
According to the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, concerns of neighborhood speeding and traffic have been raised. The SFCTA plans to develop solutions to increase walking, biking, and transit use in order to improve health, safety, and livability. These changes will support the economy and address climate change locally.
Cars travelling on the outer Avenues drive fast to get through neighborhoods as quickly as possible. Traffic calming measures such as reducing speed, adding medians and reducing turn speeds will reduce traffic, according to the Great Highway Park Initiative website. GPS will redirect vehicles travelling north and south to faster routes.
“So much life is happening out here in this space. It’s 2021, a hundred years after this road was first built. It’s time to come together and envision a new future for this space,” said Heidi Moseson to KPIX News, an organizer for the Great Highway Park Initiative.
