Wealthy San Francisco residents have been left outraged after a beautiful two-mile stretch of a coastal highway was converted into a car-free park, leaving their neighborhoods full of unwanted traffic.
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stretch → leave → traffic
The two-mile portion of the Upper Great Highway has been closed to cars since April 2025, after voters passed a resolution to convert it into public recreation space.
The cars have been replaced with skateboarders and families, who happily enjoy looking out at the Pacific Ocean as they soak in the sun and the sound of waves crashing.
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they → close → waves
But for residents living just blocks away, the seemingly idyllic backdrop has become a form of torture.
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backdrop → live → torture
'I’m so angry about it,' Judi Gorski, 75, told The Wall Street Journal.
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Gorski → ’m → Journal
'My street has become a major artery.'
It is estimated that 20,000 vehicles have been forced into nearby streets, including Gorski's, after Sunset Dunes Park became a permanent fixture.
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Park → become → Gorski
Joanie Landon, who also lives in the area, told the outlet it takes her triple the time to get to her arthritis therapy.
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it → live → therapy
'It’s very stressful when you get to this age,' the 85-year-old said, whose once eight-minute drives now take at least 25 minutes.
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drives → ’ → minutes
The two-mile portion of the Upper Great Highway has been closed off to cars for more than year now, causing an estimated 20,000 vehicles to be pushed into different neighborhoods
'I’m so angry about it,' Judi Gorski (left), 75, said.
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Gorski → close → it
'My street has become a major artery.'
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street → become → ?
Joanie Landon (right) said it takes triple the time to get to her arthritis therapy now due to traffic
The increased drive has caused her to cut her therapy sessions to three days a week instead of five, she said.
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she → say → days
The controversy around the road closure will be put to voters next month with a new measure called Proposition G. If passed, it will restore vehicles to the road on weekdays.
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it → put → weekdays
backers gathered some 16,000 signatures to get the motion on the ballot, and also fundraised around $130,000 for the campaign, WSJ reports.
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WSJ → gather → campaign
Meanwhile, those who want to keep the park as is, including Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, have raised about $800,000, with half coming from the entrepreneur himself.
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half → want → entrepreneur
'There is no reason to demolish a park that families across San Francisco love,' Stoppelman told WSJ.
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Stoppelman → be → WSJ
Initially a pandemic pilot program, the project banned cars on weekends starting at noon Fridays.
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project → ban → Fridays
The city called it the largest pedestrianization project in California's history, the WSJ reports.
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WSJ → call → history
It welcomed more than 1.7 million visits in the first year it was open, with an average of nearly 5,000 daily visits, data from San Francisco Recreation and Park Department shows.
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data → welcome → Department
More than 50 percent of visits occur during weekdays, suggesting it is used regularly by locals.
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it → occur → locals
Although plenty still enjoy the park, nearby residents told WSJ that there wasn't enough outreach to those in neighborhoods that relied on the Upper Great Highway before the initial ballot.
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that → enjoy → ballot
Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman has donated around $400,000 toward a campaign to keep the park.
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Stoppelman → donate → park
'There is no reason to demolish a park that families across San Francisco love,' he said
The park's future will be on the ballot in November, where residents will get to vote if they think the park should be open to cars during the weekdays
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park → be → weekdays
The park started as a pandemic pilot program.
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park → start → program
In its first year, it saw 1.7 million visits
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it → see → visits
'At the end of the day, I prioritize those that need to commute to work or school on weekdays over weekday recreational needs for the road,' Supervisor Alan Wong, who supports restricting the park, told NBC Bay Area.
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who → prioritize → Area
However, those who want to keep the park are saying it would destroy it to open it back up to traffic, as the park would have to get rid of skate ramps and children's playgrounds.
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park → want → ramps
Sunset is home to roughly 116,000 people with an average household income of $158,000, according to Census data.
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Sunset → accord → data
The Daily Mail has reached out to Gorski, Landon, Stoppelman and San Francisco Recreation & Parks for comment.
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Mail → reach → comment
The Aporia
