Rollover crash on San Francisco Great Highway renews concerns about road safety
It happened Sunday afternoon, just north of the part of the Great Highway that was shut down to all cars back in March for the new oceanside park.
Patrick Doherty has lived in the area for 15 years, and he said he is concerned.
"It's totally scary," said Doherty about the crash. "It's very scary. I know they just installed the lights down here, but I can see how it would happen."
San Francisco police said both drivers involved in the crash had minor injuries but will recover.
Doherty believes that when more people are on the roads, like during workdays and big events like Outside Lands, which was happening at the time of the crash, it's more dangerous.
"I think it's a bad idea to close the Great Highway, especially during rush hour," said Doherty.
But Trish Gump, a lifelong San Franciscan, believes it has more to do with the drivers than the roads.
"Unfortunately, I think a lot of people are just driving too fast in the city, so I attribute it to speed more than anything," said Gump.
She lives near Sunset Dunes and is grateful for the extra outdoor space.
"I love it," exclaimed Gump. "I use it just about every day."
Lucas Lux, President of Friends of Sunset Dunes, an organization that advocates for the park, said that the intersection has been a problem for a long time.
"This intersection has somewhat of a history of crashes well before Sunset Dunes," explained Lux. "In 2017, an SFPD vehicle rolled over in the same spot. In '21 or '22, there was another rollover crash on the Great Highway."
Last month, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency released its first data on the new traffic flow, which shows a calming.
On the Great Highway, between Fulton Street and Lincoln Way, SFMTA found it carries roughly 12,000 vehicles on an average weekday, down from 17,000 last year.
"What we know from the data is that drivers have switched to the next closest arterial, Sunset Boulevard," said Lux. "That is what the city modeled and expected, and what we all wanted to see, drivers switching to an arterial rather than going through neighborhood streets and impacting safety there."
Still, Doherty said he sees a big impact on the side streets once people turn onto Lincoln, and he can only think of one solution.
"I've thought about scenarios about how to make it better, and I think the best way is to open the Great Highway again," said Lux.
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