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SF
Prop G
Cars in Sunset Dunes

Ordinance

Allowing Private Vehicles on the Great Highway in Sunset Dunes Park

Closes Sunset Dunes Park (formerly the Upper Great Highway) to recreational use during the work week, allowing cars Monday through Friday and recreational use on weekends and holidays.

SPUR's Recommendation

Prop. G would undo a successful city effort to protect neighborhoods from the threats of rising sea levels and coastal erosion and create more places for San Franciscans to recreate safely and connect with nature. It would delay the city’s plan for addressing climate impacts at a time when the effects of climate change are only increasing. SPUR supports policies that expand access to shared public amenities, encourage transportation options such as walking, biking, and transit, and proactively address sea level rise and coastal erosion. Prop. G would do the opposite.

Vote NO

What Prop. G Would Do

Proposition G would allow private vehicles to use the Upper Great Highway (between Lincoln Way and Sloat Boulevard), currently a park known as Sunset Dunes, at all times except from 6 p.m. on Friday to 4 a.m. Monday and on holidays. The measure reverses 2024’s Prop. K, which established Sunset Dunes as a permanent recreational open space and closed it to private vehicles. If this measure passes, the city would need a Coastal Commission permit, and possibly other agency approvals, to reopen the roadway to cars.

The Backstory

For more than two decades, coastal erosion has caused frequent closures of the Upper Great Highway along San Francisco’s Pacific coast. Emergency declarations led to armoring the area with boulder revetments and closed the highway’s southbound lane for a year in 2009–2010. These and other climate-related impacts on the city’s western shore inspired SPUR to launch a multi-agency public process in 2010 to address sea level rise, protect city infrastructure, restore coastal ecosystems, and improve public access to the Ocean Beach coastline, with support from the National Park Service, SF Public Utilities Commission, and the State Coastal Conservancy.

In May 2012, SPUR published the resulting Ocean Beach Master Plan, which called for many transportation and infrastructure changes to the Upper Great Highway and Great Highway Extension. Among them was a recommendation to transform the Upper Great Highway into car-free space for public recreation along the coastline.1 

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been experimentation, progress, and controversy regarding use of this two-mile coastal stretch:

  • Spring 2020: Under the COVID-19 mayoral emergency order, the Great Highway was closed to car traffic to allow for safe, socially distanced recreation.
  • August 2021: The emergency order was adjusted to close the promenade to vehicles on weekends, from Friday at noon until Monday at 6 a.m.
  • November 2022: Two-thirds (65%) of San Francisco voters rejected Proposition I, which called for full-time private vehicle use of the Great Highway. SPUR opposed the measure because, among other reasons, it would interfere with the successful execution of the Ocean Beach Master Plan for climate adaptation.
  • December 2022: The Board of Supervisors enacted a formal pilot program instructing the SF Recreation and Parks Department to use the Great Highway as a weekend promenade until December 31, 2025, and required the SF Municipal Transportation Agency and Rec and Park to study the pilot’s impacts and report on long-term recommendations.
  • May 2024: The Board of Supervisors approved closing the Great Highway Extension (south of Sloat) to cars and rerouting traffic behind the zoo — SPUR’s first recommendation in the Ocean Beach Master Plan.
  • November 2024: San Francisco voters approved Proposition K, a ballot measure co-sponsored by SPUR, to permanently establish the Upper Great Highway as recreational open space closed to private vehicles. It passed with 55% of the vote. Notably, District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio supported Prop. K, while only 36% of District 4 voters did. These results reflected, in part, the district’s frustration over losing space for motorists and concern that highway commuters would reroute onto neighboring residential streets.
  • September 2025: Sunset activists who had opposed Prop. K launched a recall campaign against Engardio, arguing he had not represented his district’s will. The recall succeeded in a September 2025 special election.
  • December 2025: Mayor Daniel Lurie appointed City College Trustee Alan Wong to the vacant District 4 seat.
  • January 2026: Wong, who did not support Prop. K, authored legislation to place a measure on the November 2026 ballot that would close the park and convert it back into a highway, but he could not secure enough support from his board colleagues.
  • July 2026: After Wong’s effort failed, Sunset neighborhood activists filed and qualified this measure for the November ballot by collecting signatures.

Prop. G requires a simple majority (50% plus one vote) to pass.

Equity Impacts

Closing Sunset Dunes Park on weekdays would require the city and community organizations to eliminate many multilingual, multigenerational park programs and the permanent installations, such as a playground and public art, that support their success. Low-income residents would lose a free amenity that helps families spend time together, children play safely, and city dwellers connect with the natural environment.

Pro

  • Southbound car commuters may experience slight relief from delays during peak rush hour. Chain of Lakes Drive and Lower Great Highway have about one additional vehicle per minute at peak hour than pre-pandemic traffic because of the Upper Great Highway closure.2 

Cons

  • Prop. G encourages drivers to rely on an unreliable roadway. The Great Highway Extension connecting San Francisco to Daly City will be permanently closed due to coastal erosion whether or not this measure passes, so car commuters will reroute inland either way. Before Prop. K, sand accumulation unexpectedly closed the Upper Great Highway up to 65 days per year.
  • Reopening the roadway would cost $350,000 to $700,000 annually for sand removal, plus more than $10 million in one-time costs to restore and replace traffic signals.
  • Residents would lose a permanent oceanfront promenade that makes the coast accessible to people and activities that can’t safely share space with high-speed cars, such as wheelchair users, roller skaters, and kids on bicycles.
  • Returning private vehicles to the area would increase runoff pollution in a sensitive coastal ecosystem.
  • Closing the park would delay the nature-based approaches to coastal erosion and sea level rise that SPUR outlined in the Ocean Beach Master Plan, which direct spending toward dune and habitat restoration rather than roadway maintenance.
  • Even if the area limits cars on weekends in favor of recreation, nearly all amenities that support recreational users’ comfort and access will have to be removed permanently. These amenities include benches, public art, and a brand-new playground.
Vote NO on Prop G - Cars in Sunset Dunes
Footnotes

1 Benjamin Grant et al., Ocean Beach Master Plan, SPUR, May 2012.

2 San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, “New Data on Great Highway Road Closure: How We’re Supporting Your Trips,” July 25, 2025.