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Outside Lands and Kamala Harris’ visit will bring traffic jams. Here’s what to expect

A large crowd of people exits the Outside Lands concert at night in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.
The Outside Lands festival and a fundraising visit by Kamala Harris will make for tricky traffic this weekend. | Source: Jeremy Chen/The Standard

Expect serious traffic in San Francisco this weekend, thanks to the double whammy of the Outside Lands Music Festival and a fundraising visit by Vice President Kamala Harris.

Golden Gate Park and surrounding streets will be most heavily affected, as an estimated 75,000 people per day flock to the area for the three-day festival, which starts Friday afternoon.

All roads into the park west of Transverse Drive are closed until 11 p.m. Sunday, according to San Francisco Recreation & Parks. Crossover Drive and the Park Presidio Bypass will remain open, but a large swath of John F. Kennedy Drive won’t reopen until Wednesday.

On the north side of the park, Fulton Street between 26th and 37th avenues — and those same avenues between Fulton and Cabrillo — will be “local access only” on Friday and Saturday from 9 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. and on Sunday from 8:30 p.m. to 11 p.m., according to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

The city is banning concertgoers from getting dropped off or picked up on Lincoln Way between 25th and 41st avenues on the south side of Golden Gate Park.

Meanwhile, the vice president is expected to attend a ritzy fundraiser Sunday at the Fairmont hotel in Nob Hill. Planned road closures haven’t been made publicly available, but it’s likely that California, Sacramento, Powell and Mason streets will see closures and backups.

Back in Golden Gate Park, Muni will offer express service to the Civic Center BART Station from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. during the festival. Pickup is at Fulton Street and 30th Avenue.

Muni will also offer extra service on the 5R Fulton Rapid and N Judah routes.

“Due to increased ridership for this event as well as others around the city, concertgoers should allow extra travel time on the N Judah and all bus lines serving Golden Gate Park,” SFMTA’s website says. “Traffic in the area will also be heavy.”

The SFMTA is allowing for the creation of temporary taxi stands outside of Golden Gate Park during the festival. More information about the impact of Outside Lands on traffic is available at the SFMTA website.