Great Highway Reopening Price Tag More Than $10 Million, Records Show

Lucas Lux, president of Friends of Sunset Dunes, said it’s the “opposite of what we should be doing.”

“Let me put it this way: If you want to spend $14 million of taxpayer money to rip out a park, you have to ask yourself why. What do you get out of it?” Lux said, referring to additional costs from city departments to another publication.

SFMTA would see the highest cost in the proposal. Around $10 million would include costs for restoring signals from Judah Street and Sloat Boulevard and replacing signals at Lincoln and the Great Highway, according to emails that KQED reviewed between Supervisor Myrna Melgar and a Recreation and Parks Department official.

Recreation and Parks would foot a cost of $750,000 to remove park elements and repave streets, according to spokesperson Tamara Barak Aparton.

Mission Local, which originally reported on the cost, said it could be even greater. SFMTA would carry additional costs that would bring the price tag to $13.75 million, according to that publication.

Michael Roccaforte, a spokesperson for SFMTA, did not confirm or deny any figures, but referred KQED to the Controller’s office, which will prepare a financial analysis for the ballot, if the measure qualifies.

“That’ll be the most detailed and accurate look at the situation,” Roccaforte wrote.

Proponents of the proposed measure announced this month that it had collected enough signatures to qualify for the Nov. 3 election, but election officials have to verify the signatures before it’s officially placed on the ballot.

Some in favor of the road’s reopening have contended that it would help residents get to and from places they go and that traffic would be eased.

Lux said that road supporters’ main concern of traffic isn’t supported by data.

“There is no traffic issue,” Lux said.

Last year, SFMTA presented a mixed bag of traffic trends in a report following the stretch’s closure. “Some roadways are busier and more congested,” the agency said in July 2025. Lower Great Highway and Chain of Lakes Drive saw hundreds of more daily drivers, according to data.

But the traffic on the Upper Great Highway between Lincoln and Fulton decreased by 30%. Other analyses — one in 2025, another this year —  also showed a little bit of each. During rush hour, the Chronicle found that there had been more congestion, while The Frisc reported that a handful of streets saw less congestion.

Friends of Sunset Dunes has legally challenged the ballot petition, saying it has “materially mislead” voters about statements related to traffic of emergency vehicles and having safer transit. Also named in the lawsuit is John Arntz, the director of elections for San Francisco.