By David Woo, HANC Board

HANC has taken the position that any proposal to close JFK Drive must be guided by maximum transit, access, and equity. To this end, HANC advocates for new MUNI service to Golden Gate Park, in addition to existing service, before any proposal to close JFK/Middle/MLK drives goes into effect, in order to address equity access issues and increase transit capacity for GGP. This must be in addition to increased shuttles and shuttle frequency within the park.

HANC also advocates for full vehicle access into the eastern end of the park for volunteers of the Dahlia Garden who have been blocked by the closure and require vehicle access to be able to care for and run the garden (at no cost to the city).

Recap of November Membership Meeting

At our November meeting, HANC hosted a discussion on the proposed JFK Drive road changes.  Participants included Pi Ra from Senior and Disability Action (SDA), Dan Mauer from SF Recreation and Parks Department (Rec and Park), and Chava Kronenberg from SF Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA).

Pi Ra discussed how accessibility issues for people with disabilities for Golden Gate Park had already been an issue before the pandemic, and these have only been heightened. The goal for SDA has been to make sure that access issues to the park are addressed before any permanent closure. SDA proposed some of the following to increase access: passenger drop off, increased ADA parking, shuttle drop off, increased shuttle service, taxi access, and affordable garage parking.

Rec/Park and SFMTA presented on three scenarios for the park which include full closure of JFK/Middle Drive/MLK to vehicles, full closure with one portion of JFK drive open to vehicles (westbound, one-way), and full re-opening of JFK/Middle Drive/MLK to vehicles. Other proposals included some increased ADA parking, a “revamped” shuttle, some taxi spaces, and “bike-share” and electric scooters.

Rec/Park and SFMTA were asked about issues regarding social equity and how they would be addressed, specifically: without a comprehensive increase in the service of MUNI or a new dedicated line that would expand transit access and increase transit use to connect the East side of the City to Golden Gate Park, how is any new proposal for closure going to address access issues for people that currently have to drive to Golden Gate Park and cannot rely on MUNI? Rec/Park and SFMTA responded saying that this is an ongoing conversation and that they are going to come up with initiatives to ameliorate that, and that surely MUNI would like to create this type of robust transit system but SFMTA is not in a position as an agency to do that right now.

What About TNCs?

Questions also came up around how TNCs (Uber/Lyft) would be regulated if there is increased use in/around the park and how would they be prevented from parking in taxi spaces.

Timeline: Rec/Park and SFMTA are finishing the public outreach portion and will create a final proposal that will go to the SFMTA Board and Rec/Park Commission in January/February, and then to the Board of Supervisors for a vote in March.