Mayor Hears Concerns about Park Road Closures

Representatives from several community groups met with SF Mayor Gavin Newsom in June to address concerns about the city's closing of a portion of John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park on Saturdays.

The park road closure, which started May 26, was the result of last-minute negotiations facilitated by the mayor's office between proponents and opponents of the plan.

The mayor had vetoed the plan in 2006; a veto that was upheld with the votes of four supervisors. But when the plan came back this year, one supervisor who voted against the road closures said he was wavering, which the mayor says forced him to try to reach a compromise rather than lose the whole issue.

"We were dealing with reality," Newsom said.

The compromise deal closes the park six months of the year, rather than the whole year, and reduces the closure by about half of what was originally proposed. The compromise leaves access to the Conservatory of Flowers, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum and California Academy of Sciences

. Some local residents meeting with the mayor said the closures were rushed and that the city was poorly prepared. They said signs were inadequate, barriers were in the wrong places, parking spaces for the disabled were too few and misplaced, and that taxis and trams were having some difficulties. It was also noted that there were some potentially dangerous situations between vehicles and pedestrians.

Phil Ginsberg, the mayor's chief of staff who was responsible for negotiating the park road closures settlement, told the 30 or so people at the meeting that he would work to resolve some of the outstanding issues. He said he was generally pleased with the results, considering JFK Drive had only been closed for three Saturdays.

"We've made a lot of progress," Ginsberg said concerning disability access on Saturdays, as well as on Sundays.

The only snag discovered at the meeting was the repaving of Middle Drive in the park. As part of the settlement, the road is supposed to be repaved for bicyclists, rollerskaters and skateboarders. But the $500,000 to do the job is not available.

According to Newsom, private funds were pledged to do the job. He said he would do whatever he could to get the job done, but that some $36.4 million in repaving funds for the current fiscal year were already spoken for.

The June 15 meeting with the mayor was facilitated by Park Access for All, which was one of the original groups negotiating for the park road closures.