SF: Great Highway Would Need New Traffic Lights If Reopened to Cars, Costing $13.2 Million
Before Upper Great Highway closed to vehicles in 2024, the roadway's traffic signals needed to be replaced at a cost now estimated at $13.2 million, compared with the $700,000 the city spent to install Sunset Dunes Park.
As SFist reported last week, supporters of the proposed "Great Highway for Everyone Act" say they collected enough signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot, pending verification. According to Mission Local, if approved, SFMTA estimates it would cost about $13.2 million to restore and replace aging traffic signals along the Upper Great Highway, including roughly $12 million for existing intersections and another $1.2 million for a new signal at Lincoln Way.
SFMTA spokesperson Michael Roccaforte told the outlet those signals were already past their useful life before the road closed in 2024.
The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department estimates it would cost another $750,000 to remove Sunset Dunes' amenities and convert the park back into a roadway, bringing the total estimated cost to nearly $14 million. By comparison, Mission Local reports that creating Sunset Dunes has cost about $1.2 million so far, including roughly $700,000 from Rec and Park for signs and amenities and $500,000 in nonprofit funding for public art and other installations.
https://sfist.com/2026/07/13/great-highway-would-need-new-traffic-lights-if-reopened-to-cars-costing-13-2-million/