Statement from D7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar on the future of the Great Highway.
This post is meant to provide clarity on my position on our Mayor’s announcement of the temporary reopening of the Great Highway to car traffic during weekdays and allowing for car free bicycle and pedestrian use on weekends and holidays.
During the pandemic, our Mayor London Breed has used her emergency powers to make extraordinary decisions to balance our safety with the operations of the City. It is an extremely challenging job, and I am grateful for her strength and leadership. The Westside of San Francisco is lacking in transit, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure compared to the Northeast of the City. While I wholeheartedly support shifting our transportation priorities and activities to decrease car dependency, it is my position that the alternatives must be real, or we will set up an unequal and unjust system, where those who live near alternatives and or can afford to access their activities within walking distance can do so but those who cannot are stranded with no options.
Our Mayor’s announcement that the Great Highway will reopen to car traffic during weekdays, and remain car free on weekends and holidays does not preclude the extension of a one or two year pilot to test out any configurations of the Great Highway that allow for more recreational use, and car free pedestrian and bicycle commuting, including closing it to car traffic altogether, permanently. The process that we started to arrive at a pilot project alternative, and consider any permanent changes, will continue. While our Mayor has the authority to make this change during the health emergency, the Board of Supervisors is the body that can make permanent changes to this Recreation and Parks owned property. We have already committed to a transparent, public process, which will continue, and we will continue to review all options. I will continue to make Vision Zero, bicycle infrastructure and climate resilience a priority. I believe that a long-term solution to the Great Highway will require solid planning and an investment to improve public transit, bicycle and pedestrian options, including key intersections between districts 4 and 7 on high injury corridors, including the corner of Skyline Blvd and Sloat Blvd, the Sunset Blvd and Sloat overpass, and safe bicycle passage between District 7 neighborhoods and the Great Highway. I believe that the Great Highway has the potential to be a crown jewel for the City’s park infrastructure, drawing residents and visitors to its beauty, and deserves our dedicated attention and investment in planning for its future.
I want our great city to have free, well maintained and accessible outdoor space. This temporary compromise opening the Great Highway to car traffic on weekdays mitigates the increased congestion we are experiencing on other roads as we reopen our city and youth go back to in person schooling, while MUNI is still running on a reduced service schedule. I am also focusing on a longer- term vision to ensure better improvements to safety for pedestrians and bikes, improved user experience, and the full restoration of MUNI lines. This access is critical for District 7 and residents of the Westside, and I will work hard to ensure District 7 residents have the infrastructure investment we need to decrease our dependence on cars.
