Editor:
The decision to permanently close the Upper Great Highway has created far more harm than good for Sunset residents and westside commuters. What was promised as a win for recreation and climate has turned into longer commutes, more accidents, increased pollution and growing public frustration.
The Upper Great Highway was never just a road. It was a vital north-south artery connecting the Sunset District, Richmond District, Daly City and South San Francisco to the rest of the City. Its abrupt closure forced thousands of drivers onto Sunset Boulevard and residential streets, many of which were never designed to handle that volume of traffic. This shift has increased collisions and made key intersections more dangerous, while the City has failed to release traffic data from recently installed traffic counters or explain the rapid rollout of speed bumps across the district.
Now, things are about to get worse. Starting in June 2025, the City will launch a 27-month repaving project on 19th Avenue, with lane closures and diversions between Lincoln Way and Ortega Street. With the Upper Great Highway already closed, one of the last major north-south corridors on the west side will be under construction. More cars will be pushed onto Sunset Boulevard and residential streets, creating more congestion, confusion and accidents, especially for commuters from Daly City and South San Francisco.
Supporters of the closure, including Supervisor Joel Engardio, claim it was necessary due to coastal erosion and to promote a car-free lifestyle. But this logic ignores practical solutions, like storm infrastructure upgrades or the previous compromise of weekend closures. It also assumes that driving is a luxury—when in reality, most drivers depend on their cars to get to jobs, school, or medical appointments. They don’t drive by choice—they drive out of necessity.
Environmental benefits haven’t materialized. Instead of cleaner air, we now have more emissions from gridlock and longer detours right through the middle of our neighborhoods. The pollution once buffered by the coastline now lingers in front of homes and schools.
Financially, the City hasn’t saved money – it has spent more. Speed bumps, traffic studies and ongoing infrastructure repairs are all reactionary costs that could have been avoided had the Upper Great Highway stayed open during weekday commutes.
Finally, we must talk about the broken promises. Voters were told before the November 2024 election that the existing compromise would be honored through the end of 2025. But after Prop. K passed, Joel Engardio fast-tracked the permanent closure without fulfilling that promise. It was a bait-and-switch that has deeply eroded public trust.
This isn’t just about closing a road. It’s about removing vital infrastructure without a clear plan, while ignoring the voices of the communities most affected. We deserve transparency, data and real input. The City must revisit its decision before even more damage is done.
Selena Chu
A concerned Sunset resident.
Categories: letter to the editor
Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon 
Well said! I agree.
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Thanks for your wise thoughts on the problems that closing a major highway that has created. It has created havoc and discord in a quiet orderly neighborhood. Engardio came in like a tornado and broke things he can’t fix. It may come as a surprise to the Wiener Engardios of the world that people object to forced change. It is the civil servant’s job to serve people, not our job to serve them. Removing the oppressor is the first step and we are well on the way.
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Studies were supposed to take place during the Compromise… did they? If a disaster were to happen we lost a path of ingress/egress. Has the City purchased the specialized fire trucks? Or are we prioritizing joy over safety? They want to build more homes West Side. We need to Open The Great Highway. Street traffic has increased. Wonder what the Vision Zero reports will show before and after? I have read of more auto accidents since closure in West Side which had very few previously.
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Good summary of some of the issues from the unfortunate closure of the Great Highway.
This new environmental disaster has brought significant pollution right inside the neighborhoods of the Sunset. It has decimated the Habitat of the protected Snowy Plover, as wider pedestrian access to Ocean Beach allows people to Trample these very same spots of Habitat.
It has greatly increased the Danger in the neighborhoods, as 17,000 daily struggling commuters race through inner Streets and Avenues, blowing off Stop Signs and traffic control.
And also to keep in mind, Emergency First Responders can no longer easily access this long two mile stretch of Highway, as they try to save drowning victims, respond to critical time-sensitive medical emergencies like heart attacks, and rush to cope with injury-accidents. There already have been multiple incidents of emergency vehicles getting stuck in the sand, trying to round the barriers, and of being otherwise impeded. What will happen if we have Another Tsunami Warning, like we had recently? What is the Emergency Evacuation Route now?
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This city makes one disastrous decision after the other by people who do not have lived experience yet claim expertise.
You can’t manifest utopia. It takes a lot of work which the decision makers are not engaging in
The topic is different but the mindset is the same. When SFUSD delayed Algebra I to 9th there were a lot of people saying that colleges shouldn’t require high school Calculus, even STEM colleges. Well sorry but many do. If you want to engage in this philosophical argument be my guest but don’t harm people’s chances to advance. Which is what they did.
if people feel strongly then change the colleges. They did not. They just thought they could wish upon a star.
SFMTA operates with this playbook. Less cars. Sure. That’s great. Where is the infrastructure? The underground is so limited. There should be an underground under Geary. It should be across the city. Don’t compare us to cities with robust subway systems because that is not us.
Ride a bike? Nor everyone is able. What about the homeless/foster children? Who is teaching them? SFUSD no longer teaches swimming or how to ride a bike. Maybe these coalitions should work with public schools to teach the kids.
SFUSD is a lottery system and has been for 25 years. We were before the middle school feeder so we went all over this city. I don’t live in the Sunset area but I know it well because of the years spent shuttling the kids to school and activities.
People who don’t live, work or send kids to school there from across town have no idea how difficult closing this road has made life.
Dismissing people by saying use a side road is not the answer. Everyone goes down the side streets now which wasn’t designed for high traffic.
Valencia bike lanes, the Van Ness mess, Market street going toward the Castro have all been muddled on whims. No civil/traffic engineers consulted.
The Great Highway debacle is hopefully what will force a reckoning. Stop making our lives more difficult.
Build out alternatives before removing essential roads and services.
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Great letter. It lays out many of the reasons for the recall of Engardio. He remains defiant and delusional about D4 residents feeling good about his job performance. He has decided to back downtown interests: real estate development, the Bicycle Coalition folks and others who support not driving despite the necessity to commute to work, school, medical appointments, shopping. It unfairly, target seniors and the disabled. He must go now. In fact, Recall supporters submitted about 11,000 signatures to Recall Engardio. Thus, many folks disapprove of his actions on Sunset dunes i.e. upper great Highway. Further, weeks ago requesting a STOP on an Rec/Park GH Ginsburg with any further change from a highway to a “park” which is not even mentioned in PROP K.
We D4 residents support the legal case to have the Court order that PROP K is invalid and it must revert back to the Compromise in place for a few years. Instead, GM Ginsburg has continued to spend millions on “changes” before the Court rules on the issue. I guess he feels that if they spend enough, they can ague they cannot go back to the Compromise of open to vehicles weekdays and closed for recreation F Noon until Monday 6am. Despicable acts by an ally of Engardio who desperately wants it to be a park. I wish we could recall Ginsburg, too. sent from my iPad
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Selena, thank you for cutting through the spin. Your letter lays out the real-world damage from closing the Upper Great Highway, and it exposes the larger problem: we’re being led by someone who keeps auditioning for roles he’s not qualified to play.
Let’s be honest about who Supervisor Joel Engardio really is. He’s a Midwestern Gen X-er who came to San Francisco chasing the big-city dream. His only professional credential is a journalism degree (explains the relentless self-promotion) and a master’s in public administration that didn’t exactly pay off during his three failed runs for District 7 supervisor. Now, with zero urban-planning expertise, he’s dismantled a critical traffic artery without a workable alternative, forcing families, seniors, and workers into gridlock and pollution.
But the résumé padding doesn’t stop there:
It’s a pattern: jump in, claim credit, botch the follow-through, leave residents to clean up the mess. We thought we were electing a pragmatic problem-solver; instead, we got a headline-chaser who treats public office like an open mic night.
If City Hall won’t course-correct now, then west-side voters will have to do it for them. Sunset families deserve better than a wannabe mogul freelancing with our streets, our schools, and our quality of life.
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Great points and well said Wendy!
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I would like to suggest that the best way to protect people from night injuries is to hand out glow in the dark tape. the streets are dimly lit, old out of date lighting equipment that will cost at fortune to replace. Glow in the dark tape on people would at least give them a cheap easy way to alert others to their presence. Flow in the dark paint on the streets is also a good way to direct traffic flow if you really want to reduce accidents and injuries.
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Reflective Tape is more useful. Headlights would illuminate the Tape. .. Glow-in-the-dark Tape, however, needs a flashlight to activate it’s ‘glow’, and must be refreshed every few minutes. I know because I use it for my Disc Golf sport, after dark. .. Best is to get an LED Light to wear on the Arm. Or for Bikes, a red one behind, and a bright one forward.
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I know it may seem like a bit of a hassle but the rare times I take a walk at night I usually take a nice strong flashlight with me. I also make sure I don’t have my earbuds in and that my phone is put away. The key thing is being an intentional pedestrian. Do your best to be aware of your surroundings and to make others aware of you.
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Well said, Selena. I wish Heather Knight who wrote about this debacle in the New York Times a few days ago was as even-handed in her assessment.
We all realize the Great Highway was not sustainble long term due to erosion. Residents would have been happy to discuss and vote on alternatives that were not so drastic and so self-serving to only a few.
We needed to share the GH a bit longer to really fix this that benefited us and the environment. We need better public transit, a new road plan to move traffic north-south efficiently, and more accommodations for seniors and disabled non-bikers.
Thank you Selena for being the voice of reason. Let’s overturn this mistake and create a better solution.
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