Visitors pack the former Great Highway during the grand opening of the Sunset Dunes Park in San Francisco on April 12.
Photographer: Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
Design
How a Highway Became San Francisco’s Newest Park
The city permanently banned cars from a scenic oceanfront roadway to create Sunset Dunes Park. The change has brought out big crowds — and plenty of controversy.
There’s a bright orange octopus in the middle of the road. It’s as big as a bus, and there are kids climbing all over it.
Two months prior, this stretch of pavement a stone’s throw from the Pacific Ocean was the domain of speeding vehicles. On this Thursday afternoon, it’s populated by walkers, bikers and a pair of giraffes (in climbable sculptural form).