26-07-2025
- Automotive
- San Francisco Chronicle
S.F. releases new report on traffic after Great Highway closure. Here's what it shows
Transportation officials in San Francisco have released their first report on traffic patterns since the closure of Upper Great Highway in March, presenting a more complete picture of how driving has changed in the Outer Sunset.
The data shows an increase in congestion on Chain of Lakes Drive, a main route to cut through Golden Gate Park. After the city shuttered a portion of Great Highway on the coastal side to convert the road into parkland, some drivers re-rerouted to Chain of Lakes. The cut-through now carries about 11,000 vehicles on an average weekday, 21% more than it did prior to the permanent shutdown on March 14, according to San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.
However, another key route, the still-open section of Upper Great Highway between Fulton Street and Lincoln Way, saw a decrease in traffic. It runs parallel to Golden Gate Park on the west side, and now carries roughly 12,000 vehicles on an average weekday, down from 17,000 last year.
SFMTA's report follows an analysis by the Chronicle last month, which showed more rush hour traffic on some roads after cars were banned from Upper Great Highway from Lincoln Way to Sloat Boulevard, now a park promenade lined with art installations and bicycle paths. The Chronicle's study, like the new one from SFMTA, found the relationship between road closures and driving behavior is complicated. Some arteries suffered no slowdowns at all, according to the Chronicle analysis, and speeds on a few roads may have picked up as drivers adapted their routes.
'Largely, these results fall in alignment with what we have been saying and what we were expecting,' SFMTA spokesperson Parisa Safarzadeh said of the agency's report. She has noted that city transportation planners continue to monitor traffic in the neighborhoods around the new Sunset Dunes Park. Crews have made many engineering tweaks to facilitate smoother drives, including three new traffic signals and a reconfigured intersection at Lincoln Way and Great Highway, where dual left and right turn lanes make it easier to go around Golden Gate Park instead of slogging through Chain of Lakes.
The closure of Upper Great Highway became a raw topic in the Sunset, particularly among commuters who use Chain of Lakes to travel from the Outer Richmond to south San Francisco or freeways heading to the Peninsula. Some have channeled their frustrations toward Supervisor Joel Engardio, who supported Proposition K, the ballot measure to make the road closure permanent. Disenchantment over Prop K and the new Sunset Dunes Park helped fuel efforts to recall Engardio. His political fate will be decided in a special election this September.
