Supporters of Prop. K, measure to close San Francisco's Great Highway to cars, declare victory
Supporters of Prop. K, which will permanently close a stretch of a Great Highway in San Francisco to cars, are declaring victory.
One of the most controversial measures being decided on by city voters, the measure will close a two-mile stretch of the road from Lincoln Way to Sloat Boulevard.
Despite returns showing the measure being supported by about 54% of San Francisco voters as of Sunday, not everyone is happy about it.
"Why does this need to be a public space? It's a freeway," questioned Jared Lozano, who has lived in the Sunset District for three-and-a-half years.
For most of that time, a portion of the Great Highway has been closed to cars on the weekends as part of a pilot program scheduled to end at the end of 2025.
Lozano said because cars are forced inland, it's made other streets dangerous, like the area where he lives near 41st Avenue and Irving.
"I've already had a friend who's been T-boned at that intersection," said Lozano. "I was almost run over at that intersection today. This is just going to create so many safety problems for the city."
But "Yes on K" volunteer and Sunset resident, Heidi Moseson, says making this closure permanent will allow the city to make changes to the flow of traffic.
"When this is converted, we can make these lights sync up, replace stop signs with lights so it smooths the traffic flow to Sunset and then working on Sunset as well to smooth that and make that a more efficient drive," Moseson told CBS News Bay Area.
Moseson uses the road all the time, for walking, biking, and playing with her kids.
Over the 15 years she's lived here, the Great Highway has been eroding. Because of that, the stretch south from Sloat to Skyline Boulevards is already slated to close in 2026.
Prop K, she says, gets ahead of the issue.
"This feels like an opportunity to create something good out of a hard situation," said Moseson. "The road is changing, coastal erosion is worsening but we can make something great out of something that's frustrating."
Still, the author of the argument against Prop K, Richie Greenberg, says under current circumstances, it would be better to keep the highway open.
"Work days, commute requirements, this would be an absolute nightmare because there are up to 20,000 cars per day that use this very important and very well-maintained and high-volume traffic corridor," Greenberg told CBS News Bay Area.
Lozano agrees and he says many Sunset residents do too.
"If you look at the voting record everybody who voted to keep this closed for a park doesn't live next to it."
City Supervisor Joel Engardio released a statement Sunday saying he's listening to residents, like Lozano, who voted "no".
"I understand and respect the views of voters who said no to Prop K," said Engardio in a blog post. "I will work with residents to ensure that they have a voice in decisions about how to keep traffic moving quickly while minimizing the impacts on neighborhood streets."
The closure won't go into effect immediately. The city will have about six months to make any other approvals necessary before the road will permanently close.
