Golden Gate Park Stakeholder Working Group and Action Framework

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 Kezar Drive to Transverse Drive was closed to cars, allowing people to walk and bicycle while social distancing. 

Through the Golden Gate Park Stakeholder Working Group and Action Framework, the Transportation Authority convened a working group of residents, businesses, and public and community organizations to identify ways to improve travel to, from, and within  Golden Gate Park. (Working group membership list PDF.) The goal of this effort was to build consensus around shared values and needs which will inform subsequent park access planning as well as the long-term operations of JFK Drive.

The contribution of this group is a collaboratively developed list of needs and an Action Framework that identifies key efforts to be carried forward into subsequent planning processes for Golden Gate Park and JFK Drive. 

The working group will not make a recommendation about whether JFK Drive should remain car-free. Rather, a summer 2021 design process jointly led by the Recreation and Parks Department and the SFMTA will build on working group findings, conduct additional public outreach, identify necessary regulatory approvals, and evaluate alternatives including a preferred alternative. Formal approvals and environmental review will accompany this design process. Each step of the process will include opportunities for public input.

Expected Decision Making Process for JFK Drive

• The Golden Gate Park Stakeholder Working Group and Action Framework produced a list of park access needs and provided input on priority actions that the city could take to address those access needs.  The Recreation and Parks Department and the SFMTA will build on working group contributions.
• A summer 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 Stakeholder Working Group and Action Framework with $60,000 in half-cent sales tax funds. This work was requested by Transportation Authority Board Members Sandra Lee Fewer (District 1) and Gordon Mar (District 4).

Timeline and Status 

May 2021: Transportation Authority Board accepts final report documenting stakeholder working group input. 

Contact 

Rachel Hiatt, Deputy Director for Planning