The Great Highway To Permanently Close To Cars This Friday

If you want to drive on the Great Highway, you only have a few days to do so because beginning on Friday, March 14th, cars will be forbidden from the picturesque road on the western edge of the City. 

While a portion of the road is already closed on weekends, this will make the car ban permanent, leaving a lot of residents wondering how the car ban will affect commuters. 

And, typical of San Francisco, there seems to be a divide as to whether this car ban is a good thing or not. Some people, typically long-time San Franciscans that live in the Western half of the city seem to think it’s the beginning of armageddon, while people in other parts of the city range from indifferent to supportive. 

Who doesn’t want to take a nice stroll on the beach? 

The reason for the permanent closure of the road is to make room for a 50-acre park that will feature murals, lounge areas and other amenities typically found in San Francisco’s parks.

The problem with a dispute like this is that you can see both sides of the argument. San Francisco is a notoriously tough city to drive in, and for every road closed, commuters are rerouted to other incredibly clogged thoroughfares. On the other hand, San Francisco is a city that has always put aesthetics ahead of functionality, and the Pacific Ocean is pretty fuckin’ aesthetic. If any location in San Francisco seemed destined to become a park, it’s this one. 

Prop K. – the law that led to the change, wasn’t a slam dunk and narrowly passed in November. But it doesn’t matter how narrowly it passed, it still did. While beachgoers enjoy their unobstructed views of the Pacific, someone’s commute assuredly got longer. However, San Francisco is a city with plentiful public transportation and getting to a job Downtown on MUNI has always been faster than driving. If you are headed downtown, who the fuck wants to pay for parking? Even if you get the early bird special, you’re likely looking at a $20 parking fee. 

The only thing you can bet on in San Francisco is change, you may like some of the changes, and you might hate the others, but dynamism is what defines San Francisco. So yeah, the pretty beachfront road is closing to cars and your commute might be longer. But this is SF, you gotta ride the wave or find a different place to swim because this won’t be the first time San Francisco has pissed people off, and it won’t be the last. 

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