Dear Editor,

When discussing the Upper Great Highway, we need to strip away the political noise and address a core issue of municipal equity: public policy should never prioritize the recreational wants of a leisure class over the essential, time-sensitive needs of working-class families.

Proposition G provides a practical middle ground by restoring weekday access to the roadway for commuters, working parents and daily traffic, while preserving full weekend and holiday car-free closures for coastal recreation.

The Upper Great Highway was designed as an essential coastal bypass. Hugging the western edge of the City, its seven traffic lights allowed regional commuters from the south to travel north efficiently without cutting through quiet residential streets. Closing it full-time forces thousands of vehicles onto interior avenues that have stoplights at every single block, creating unnecessary stop-and-go gridlock, noise and safety hazards right outside neighborhood homes.

Defenders of a 24/7 closure often dismiss this reality by claiming, “My personal commute wasn’t affected, so the impact must not exist.” But municipal governance fails when individual convenience overrides the daily needs of families dealing with displaced traffic. One has to wonder: how did these advocates live prior to the pandemic? Westside recreation was not only possible before April 2020, when the Upper Great Highway was open 24/7; it thrived because there was neighborhood harmony.

For nearly a century, the Upper Great Highway absorbed over 20,000 daily vehicle trips. Those cars did not magically vanish. Forcing working parents managing tight schedules and essential travel to absorb longer, congested commutes just to preserve full-time leisure access on an asphalt road is fundamentally unfair.

Calling a paved road with temporary amenities “Sunset Dunes Park” doesn’t change what it actually is: a paved road. San Francisco already has over 200 dedicated neighborhood parks. Sunset Dunes can continue to offer weekend recreation under Proposition G without crippling our daily transit network or turning residential avenues into bypass lanes.

Let’s share public space responsibly, protect residential streets, and support working families.

Vote YES on Prop G.

Sincerely,

Wendy Liu

Sunset District Resident