Golden Gate Park Sustainable Travel Study

Introduction

John F. Kennedy Drive is one of the main thoroughfares through Golden Gate Park, a major destination for San Francisco residents and tourists. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, JFK Drive from Martin Luther King Jr. Drive to Crossover Drive was closed to cars, allowing people to walk and bicycle while social distancing. 

Through the Golden Gate Park Sustainable Travel Study, the Transportation Authority convened a working group of residents, businesses, and public and community organizations to evaluate ways to improve travel to and from Golden Gate Park. (Working group membership list PDF.) This working group assessed the current car-free JFK Drive, including considering impacts on how people with disabilities, employees, and local residents access the park. 

The working group will focus on the short-term questions of whether and how to modify the current car-free JFK Open Street configuration and surrounding access routes as the city emerges from Shelter in Place and the emergency order for the pandemic, as well as examining extending the closure of JFK Drive and potential improved connections to the Great Highway.

This working group will be asked to produce a list of identified needs and provide input on design changes made to date.

A spring 2021 design process jointly led by the Recreation and Parks Department and the SFMTA will then build on working group findings, conduct additional public outreach, identify necessary regulatory approvals, and produce alternatives including a preferred alternative.

Formal approvals and environmental review will accompany the design process jointly led by the Recreation and Parks Department and the SFMTA. Each step of this process will include opportunities for public input.

Expected Decision Making Process for JFK Drive

• The Golden Gate Park Sustainable Travel Study working group produces a list of identified needs and provides input on design changes made to date.
• A spring 2021 design process jointly led by the Recreation and Parks Department and the SFMTA builds on working group findings, conducts additional public outreach, identifies any necessary regulatory approvals, and produces alternatives including a preferred alternative*
• SFMTA Board hearing*
• Recreation and Parks Commission hearing to adopt preferred alternative*
• Board of Supervisors approval process*
• Funding and implementation

*Opportunity for public input

Project/Study Partners

This project is funded and led by the Transportation Authority, in close coordination with the Recreation and Parks Department as well as the SFMTA.

Cost and Funding

The Transportation Authority's Neighborhood Program is funding the Golden Gate Park Sustainable Travel Study with $60,000 in Prop K sales tax funds. This study was requested by Transportation Authority Board Members Sandra Lee Fewer (District 1) and Gordon Mar (District 4).

Timeline and Status 

This study is anticipated to be completed by April 2021. 

Resources

Golden Gate Sustainable Travel Study Prop K funding request (PDF)

Values and Facts Sheet Compiled for Stakeholder Group Meeting #2 (PDF)

Contact 

Rachel Hiatt, Assistant Deputy Director for Planning