Voters closed the Great Highway to cars. Uh, now what?

San Francisco voters gave their assent to Proposition K, a controversial ballot measure to permanently close the central section of the Upper Great Highway to cars. So what happens next?

The path forward is complex. While the Great Highway falls under the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Department of Recreation and Parks, the city doesn’t have total authority to develop Ocean Beach Park, as envisioned by Prop. K proponents. Meanwhile, political tensions remain high: Although the measure passed with 54% of votes, the neighborhoods closest to the Great Highway, the Sunset and Richmond, were strongly opposed to it.  

As many opponents noted, the text of the ballot measure contained nothing about funding to develop a park or a timeline for the transition. Even the most basic next steps are vague. 

The section of the Great Highway between Sloat Boulevard and Lincoln Way is closed to cars every weekend from noon on Friday to 6 a.m. on Monday. At some point in the next few months, that closure will become permanent.

“We expect the Great Highway to become a full-time promenade in early 2025,” Daniel Montes, a spokesperson for SF Recreation and Parks, told The Standard.

First, the California Coastal Commission, a powerful agency tasked with ecological stewardship and maintaining public access to the shoreline, has to approve the closure plan. The city has submitted its proposal, but it’s unclear when the commission will review it. The next meeting is in December, and the one after that is in February. 

The Bay Area representative on the commission is Marin County Supervisor Katie Rice, who couldn’t be reached for comment. San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, one of the sponsors of Prop. K, is an alternate member on the commission.

The wild card is Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie. He doesn’t sit on the commission but received strong support from voters on the west side, where Prop. K was deeply unpopular. His campaign couldn’t be reached for comment on whether he will weigh in on the process, but some “No on K” supporters are hoping to have a word with the Coastal Commission when the time comes.

Albert Chow, a merchant in the Sunset and a leading “No on K” voice, hopes the commissioners listen to the concerns of residents who live near the Great Highway.

“I will remind them to look at how we voted on it,” he said. “The majority of the neighbors are against it.”

Assuming the Coastal Commission gives San Francisco the go-ahead to close the roadway, the decision on how to use the land falls squarely on the city. Though it Prop. K referred to “public open recreation space,” it contained no language about timelines or funding. Local backers now have a blank canvas for reimagining a two-mile segment of the city’s western edge.

Rec and Park can proceed with quick-build amenities like benches and public art projects of the type found on the “Golden Mile” of JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park, which was closed to cars in 2022. “That’s the Day 1 and Day 2 park, if you will,” said Lucas Lux, a Sunset resident who led the “Yes on K” campaign.

Annie Fryman, a policy expert who leads urban planning nonprofit SPUR’s local housing and transportation projects, said there are many cheap features that could immediately start the road-to-park transformation.

“Imagine: By next summer, when kids are out of school, we could have seating, public art, planter boxes, clear markings for bicycles, a platform or stage for community performances, and a playground,” Fryman said.

But how much will that cost? Two recent projects on the other side of town suggest a wide range. The 5.4-acre Bayfront Park near Chase Center cost $32 million, while the 10-acre India Basin Waterfront Park ran to $200 million.

Willett Moss, a partner at CMG Landscape Architecture, which worked pro bono with the “Yes on K” campaign since its earliest phase, as well as the redesign of Civic Center and Better Market Street, told The Standard it’s impossible to estimate the cost of developing Ocean Beach Park because there are so many unknowns in terms of access, ecological conservation, and other factors. “I’m not even saying that out of guardedness,” he added. “But because of the complexity.”

Moss noted that Tunnel Tops, an instantly popular park in the Presidio that opened in 2022, came to fruition through a $98 million private donation.

Joel Engardio, the district supervisor who led the effort to put Prop. K on the ballot, said the funding solution will play out in parallel with the community engagement process. In short, San Francisco will see what residents want, put a price tag on it, then decide how to pay for it. 

“We know it’s already a popular park even with no amenities, already the third-most-visited park in the city,” Engardio said, referring to the roadway’s weekend use. “There are any number of ways to fund it long-term: bond, conservancy, and federal funding.”

Meanwhile, there is growing anger among those who opposed Prop. K. Many Sunset residents feel their criticism was not heard. There are ongoing discussions about mounting a recall campaign against Engardio.

There may also be lawsuits. The Standard has learned that numerous attorneys were contacted to review the records about whether Prop. K was properly placed on the ballot, with enough information provided to voters.

Louis Lam, a community leader and organizer behind “No on K,” said his team is gathering information and considering its next move, adding that a recall effort is the last resort. Their main goal, Lam said, is to reopen the Great Highway through another ballot measure.

Opponents of Prop. K threatened in July to recall Engardio but decided to shelve that effort and focus on defeating the measure. The recall petition letter, obtained by The Standard, said Engardio “demonstrated an indifference to the needs of constituents and affected stakeholders, increased the risks of harm to constituents, and disenfranchised [Sunset] residents.”

Engardio didn’t back down. In a tweet in July, he said, “I will not remove a ballot measure under threat of recall.” This week, Engardio compared Ocean Beach Park to projects like the removal of the Embarcadero Freeway — hugely polarizing in their time but recognized in hindsight as wise moves.

In the meantime, the “Yes on K” campaign will hold a victory rally Saturday at noon on Noriega Street. There will be a marching band and a performance by John Elliott, a local musician who wrote a song for the occasion: “Yay on K.”