this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2025
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A car-free stretch of highway in San Francisco leads to recall vote and warning to politicians (apnews.com)
submitted 1 day ago by ray@sh.itjust.works to c/fuckcars@lemmy.world
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/36015848

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — During the coronavirus pandemic, the city closed a stretch of a four-lane highway along San Francisco’s Pacific Coast and made it an automobile-free sanctuary where bicyclists and walkers flocked to exercise and socialize under open skies and to the sound of crashing waves.

But with the post-pandemic return to school and work, resentment grew among neighborhood residents who relied on the artery to get around. Some blamed the district city supervisor who helped make the change permanent by placing on a citywide ballot a measure to turn the 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) stretch into a new park.

On Tuesday, district voters will decide whether to recall Supervisor Joel Engardio.

The recall of a local supervisor who represents one-tenth of a city of 800,000 might seem like minor politics. But the election highlights a San Francisco in flux and a still cranky, even emboldened electorate as leaders prepare to make tough decisions about the city’s future.

The recall election will be the city’s third in four years. It’s fueled by many of the same people who tossed out three liberal school board members in February 2022 followed by the ouster of politically progressive San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin in June of that year.

“This recall is really about the future of our city,” said Engardio in an interview with The Associated Press. “Do we want to be a city that just preserves itself in amber and goes back in time? Or do we want to be a city that innovates, thinks ahead, is forward-looking and welcomes new people?”

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[–] stabby_cicada@slrpnk.net 3 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

Update: voters recalled Joel Engardio, the supervisor who championed the highway closure, with 65% in support of the recall.

I'm not surprised. The whole city got to vote on the highway closure, which passed with majority approval, but with very strong opposition from Engardio's district, where that closed stretch of road actually was. The recall election was limited to Engardio's district. The result was pretty much inevitable.

You could complain about car brains, but I think it's a lesson in the importance of putting in the work and getting community support for road closures - or for any other change that directly impacts a specific community, no matter how well intentioned - instead of imposing them from the top down.

[–] DrunkEngineer@lemmy.world 2 points 18 minutes ago

Keeping the highway open would have been very expensive. There is major coastal erosion, and just the routine sand clearing. Closing the highway is consistent with official long-term plans that have gone through decades of meetings. Unless this very small number of voters wants to foot those costs all on their own, then I see no reason to give them veto power.

[–] ray@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 hour ago

That's disappointing, though not surprising