San Francisco District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong lobbied up until the last minute for a ballot measure to reopen the Upper Great Highway, also known as Sunset Dunes Park, to vehicle traffic on weekdays. But by the 5 p.m. deadline today, he was still short one signature from a board colleague to qualify it for the June ballot. Mission Local reported late Tuesday that “Department of Elections staff confirmed that there would be no ballot measure.”
On Monday, he held a press conference with constituents to highlight the negative impacts of intensified street congestion on neighborhood businesses.
“We already have traffic impacts along Sunset Boulevard; traffic jumped 28 percent the moment the Great Highway closed,” Wong explained to reporters from both Chinese- and English-speaking media, at the Smile House Cafe on Taraval Street. “It’s one of the biggest increases of any corridor of the city measured. That traffic didn’t disappear into thin air. Those trips went somewhere.”
Wong also outlined a sharp increase in traffic-related injuries, which he attributed to increased congestion resulting from the Great Highway closure and Caltrans’s 19th Avenue repaving project, which is affecting all six heavily traveled lanes from Holloway Avenue to Lincoln Way.
“From March 14th through November, Sunset Boulevard went from three injuries in 2024 to 12 in 2025, a 300 percent increase,” the supervisor explained. “That’s not a minor fluctuation. It’s a clear sign that this corridor is already under strain. [Last year] was the year of the highest number of injuries along 19th Avenue, 20th Avenue, Crossover Drive, and Judah Street. So there are definitely consequences to the closure.”
Neighborhood business owners impacted by the new traffic pattern also spoke at the press conference.
Luke Lei, owner of Smile House Cafe, told reporters that congestion has become a daily challenge for both customers and employees.
“With the Great Highway closed and more cars diverted onto neighborhood streets, an already tough business environment has become even harder,” he said.
“Our restaurant is right on 19th Avenue, and we have seen fewer customers because traffic is so backed up and parking is harder to access,” added Susan Wang, owner of Guilin Rice Noodles House on 19th Avenue.
To place the measure on the June ballot, Wong needed signatures from three of his board colleagues by today, and it was an uphill struggle. At the press conference, Wong revealed that he had secured agreement from District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan in exchange for minor amendments to the measure. District 11 Supervisor Charlene Chen agreed to sign on Tuesday. Sources close to City Hall have told The Voice that some supervisors either think the matter is already settled or don’t want to take sides. Others aligned politically with progressives and labor who support their chosen candidate, Natalie Gee, currently Supervisor Shamann Walton’s chief of staff, may have opposed the Great Highway closure, but don’t want to give Wong a political win.
At a press conference held at 1 p.m. today at City Hall, Supervisor Wong told reporters, “We have a narrow window, and my office is still doing our best to advocate and reach out to the two possible remaining signatories.”
Other paths to a ballot initiative are possible, such as through voter signatures or a mayoral submission. To make the June ballot, voter petitions with 10,582 signatures would have to be submitted by Feb. 2, a daunting task.