Who Knows What Happens Next?

It has been fascinating to watch the Upper Great Highway/Sunset Dunes saga unfold in our back yard.

I moved to San Francisco in 1978. I don’t have any memory of the Upper Great Highway as a drag strip, or the tunnels that once provided beach access under the roadway. 

Soon, newcomers might never know what it was like to drive along the Upper Great Highway. I liked the timed lights, but thought it might be better if there were conspicuous signs letting drivers know to keep their car’s speed just under 30 miles per hour and they wouldn’t have to touch the brakes for a couple of miles. Invariable, I would be cruising along (sometimes with literal cruise control) when an aggressiver driver would pass me and have to brake at the next light, throwing off the whole system. Weird, but that’s what I will remember.

It’s still not certain that the roadway-turned coastal playground will stay that way. We have reported on a lawsuit that challenges the City’s actions.

Here is what reporter John Ferrannini wrote in last month’s paper, in case you missed it:

“Matthew Boschetto, et al. v. San Francisco was filed in San Francisco County Superior Court on March 12. It alleges that Proposition K – the successful ballot measure that led to part of the westside thoroughfare being closed to cars starting March 14 – was not within the voters’ purview to close and that it ran afoul of the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA.

“The civil complaint states the supervisors who voted to place the measure on the ballot, including District 4’s Joel Engardio, ‘ignored the state’s plenary authority over traffic control and roads and unlawfully placed a measure before San Francisco voters that was not in the voters’ power to decide,’” the story reported.

“‘To make matters worse, this measure exceeds the limited authority given to cities and counties to legislate in the field of traffic control and roads by closing the Upper Great Highway to most vehicles while allowing other vehicular traffic on this road and by incorrectly determining that the closure of a major county highway is not subject to CEQA.’”

We’ll have to wait and see what happens. The courts will start the process of hearing from the parties involved starting next month. We’ll keep you posted.

Either way, the whole process has been extremely polarizing. The passions of those who want to keep the Upper Great Highway open to commuters have been intense. I cringe sometimes when I read the slapback posted online by opponents to closing the roadway (including the comments sections on our own website). Right now, the park lovers have been celebrating the April 12 opening of the new car-free space. The ribbon-cutting ceremony drew more than 10,000 people . Time will tell which side finally gets what they want. 

“Recall Express”

I wasn’t happy when I saw a four-page mini “newspaper” called the “Recall Express” in various locations in the Sunset District encouraging the removal of District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio from his seat on the Board of Supervisors. The publisher made the unfortunate choice of using the same font and font color as the Richmond Review. Rest assured we had nothing to do with that publication and continue to work hard to remain neutral and unbiased regarding political issues. 

Special Thanks

If you are one of our generous supporters who sent us a donation or signed up on our Patreon campaign, please know how sincerely we appreciate your kind support. 

Thanks to you, we are publishing more pages and giving more opportunities to local writers to tell the stories of the individuals, businesses, organization and events in our westside neighborhoods. 

If you haven’t donated to your neighborhood newspaper, you can help by giving business to our advertisers. Or, the next time you visit one of our supporters – or even locations that kindly carry our papers for distribution – please take a moment to thank them for supporting this community resource.

Vacation Photos

We have been delightfully overwhelmed with the responses to our call for submissions to our Pet Pix feature. We received so many photos, we included nine pets this month with plenty left to spare!

Now we’re asking you to submit a photo of you on vacation reading our newspaper or wearing your SB hat/shirt, carrying your branded tote bag or sipping out of your SB mug. Please send to my email below.

Finally, I would like to thank the very talented writers who have stepped forward and offered to share their skill with our papers. To me, writers are in the same category as painters, dancers, musicians, actors, cartoonists, photographers, sculptors, poets and more who add so much quality to our lives. They enrich our day-to-day existence. 

Michael Durand is the editor-in-chief and publisher of the Richmond Review and Sunset Beacon newspapers and the RichmondSunsetNews.com website. He can be reached at Editor@RichmondSunsetNews.com.