The End of the Great Highway compromise was Based on Deception
The Arguments to Permanently Close the Highway Were Designed to Mislead
Two years ago Sunset district supervisor Joel Engardio in a move that was wildly unpopular in his own district sponsored Prop. K to end the Great Highway compromise and permanently close the road. He got four other supervisors to go along with him. Creating a park in this way is vanishingly rare.
The proposition passed by 55-45 city wide, but was voted down by a 2-1 margin in both the Sunset and Richmond districts bordering the Great Highway.
The people that live on the west side simply knew that ending the compromise was a bad idea. The people of the city were promised a beautiful new park, but today it is still nothing but a closed road, a barren strip of asphalt. It must remain a barren strip of asphalt for sand removal. Without regular sand removal the road will eventually be covered in sand.
An “Iconic” Park?
The arguments in favor (opens in a new tab) of ending the compromise were filled with deceptions. They claimed the Great Highway would become an “iconic new oceanfront park”. They painted pictures of a new Crissy Field. They compared it to Playland at the Beach and Sutro Baths. They used the word “iconic” nine times to describe it.
Two years later it is still a strip of barren asphalt.
They claimed it would save a half million dollars per year in sand removal costs. This did not happen. Sand must still be removed from the road.
The road is built over an enormous two-mile long wastewater holding tank which must remain. San Francisco has a very old sewage system in which the same pipes carry both sewage and water from the storm drains. Enormous capacity is required to hold the run-off from storms before it is processed at the sewage treatment plant to the south. Much of that capacity lies beneath the asphalt of the Great Highway.
The Questionable Numbers
Parks and Rec claim that 1.7 million people are using the park every year, but these numbers lack transparency. How many people are simply crossing the road to get to the beach? How many are being double-counted when they cross back out? How many are simply using the pre-existing bike path? We have no numbers on this.
People that have been there during the week will tell you that the road is mostly empty.
The Questionable Costs
Can we trust the statements being made against Prop. G? Two years ago it was estimated (opens in a new tab) that it would cost $4.3 million to replace seven traffic lights on the Great Highway. Today, it’s being estimated that it will cost $8.8 million (opens in a new tab) to replace the same seven traffic lights if the road is reopened.
An Appalling Safety Record
There have been at least three major injury accidents since the road was closed. The road has been closed to cars, but it is still open to e-bikes and other electric vehicles capable of speeds of up to 28 miles per hour. The proponents of the “park” claim that pedestrians and vehicles are on separate parts of the road, but this is not true. There are few signs to separate them except at the ends of the road.