By Marcus Escartin

Along Ocean Beach, the Upper Great Highway has been many things to San Francisco. The stretch of coastline was once home to attractions like Playland at the Beach, where generations of San Franciscans made memories. During COVID-19, it became a lifeline for residents seeking outdoor activities. On April 12, 2025, after debates, a recall election and a citywide ballot measure, Sunset Dunes, a two-mile coastal park, became a reality for San Francisco residents.

The Friends of Sunset Dunes, alongside its contributors, organized PloverFest, originally planned for April 12 to coincide with the park’s first anniversary. The festival was later pushed back two weeks because of inclement weather. Stretching from Judah Street to Sloat Boulevard, PloverFest brought hundreds of residents from across the City to celebrate the anniversary. The event featured live music across four stages and local vendors, drawing visitors of all ages.

Among those in attendance were Ian Long and Aldea Meary-Miller, residents of the Richmond District, who said their connection to the park runs deeper than geography. As Richmond residents not directly impacted by the Upper Great Highway closure, they said Sunset Dunes represents something the City does not have enough of.

“We would like to see the dunes stay open,” they said, pointing to the environmental value the park has brought to restoring the coast.

However, environmental value is not the only concern surrounding the park. Sunset Dunes has also brought increased human activity closer to federally protected nesting habitats once deterred by the Upper Great Highway roadway. The preservation of habitats like those for the endangered Western Snowy Plover, the bird PloverFest is named after, remains a point of discussion among residents. Although the habitat is actively monitored during sensitive nesting seasons by the National Park Service, some residents argue that the transformation of the Upper Great Highway into a pedestrian park has increased foot traffic near federally protected habitat along Ocean Beach.

Jack, a longtime San Francisco resident who grew up in the Sunset, said the park affects more than just former Great Highway commuters. He said Sunset Dunes has had a broader impact on neighborhood life.

“It does more good than bad,” he said. Jack noted he lives in a part of the Sunset where he rarely uses the highway and said he has seen no meaningful difference in traffic since the closure. He added that his wife now regularly uses the park for morning runs.

While many affirm that traffic has not been impacted by the highway’s closure, a July 2025 study from the San Francisco Chronicle and HERE Technologies found that the average travel time for those going from the Outer Sunset/Parkside neighborhoods to the Outer Richmond had increased.

Lucas Lux, president of Friends of Sunset Dunes, said the park’s popularity is exactly what makes its future secure, even as opponents push toward another ballot fight.

“I think it’s our job to create spaces that generate positive change in our communities,” Lux said. “I believe that currently we have the best people pushing this idea forward.”

Lux pointed to visitor numbers and increased activity among businesses near the park as evidence that Sunset Dunes delivered on its promise to the neighborhood.

He expressed confidence heading into what he described as the “sixteenth proposal” to revert the space back into a highway.

Not everyone in the Sunset shares that view. The same district that voted against Proposition K in 2024 by a two-to-one ratio could once again play a central role in determining the future of Sunset Dunes this November. Proponents for a compromise solution, where vehicles could use the roadway on weekdays, are aiming for a November election.