Planning for a Changing Coastline

Severe winter storms in 1997 and 2009–2010 exposed Ocean Beach’s vulnerability — and the city’s lack
of a coordinated erosion response. With agencies siloed and reactive emergency measures dominating, SPUR convened city, state, and federal actors to deliver a proactive adaptation strategy for sea level rise that would also increase recreation access along the coast.

Ocean Beach’s patchwork of jurisdictions prevented unified action on erosion, infrastructure protection, and habitat preservation. In 2010, SPUR launched a collaborative, interagency planning effort spanning public utilities, parks, transportation, public works, and city planning to break the cycle of crisis-driven spending and short-term interventions.

With funding from the National Park Service, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and the California State Coastal Conservancy, SPUR led an 18-month process to design a long-term strategy. We convened agency staff, community members, and consultants to identify focus areas, from ecological restoration and wastewater infrastructure protection to erosion control, equitable access, and interagency stewardship.

In 2012, SPUR published the Ocean Beach Master Plan — a climate adaptation road map with 40-plus recommendations to be implemented over 40 years. The plan’s “big moves” include rerouting traffic away from the rapidly eroding Great Highway Extension, restoring dunes, expanding access and open space, and realigning infrastructure to support coastal resilience. The city and Coastal Commission certified the recommendations as official policy in 2018 and, in November 2024, issued final permits to begin over $100 million of infrastructure transformation south of Sloat Boulevard.

San Francisco’s pandemic-era “slow streets” program delivered on key SPUR recommendations to connect recreation space along the coast and restore the natural sand dunes and habitats by closing the Upper Great Highway to vehicles and establishing this space as a new park. After years of pilot projects and public debate, San Francisco voters approved permanent, full-time street closure in 2024.