Editor:
Thank you for your coverage of the road closure of JFK Drive. Since 1967 JFK Drive has been closed to cars on Sundays and holidays, 6 a.m.-5 p.m.
In April of 2007, a negotiated Compromise Agreement went into effect that added closing Tea Garden Drive to Transverse April through September. It has been in effect since then. JFK was never closed at night.
Closing JFK Drive 24/7 is totally inhumane to those of us who need a car to get to our destinations. We are completely excluded from enjoying any of the winter night activities in Golden Gate Park, such as the much-celebrated Entwined Lights installation, and the light show inside the Conservatory of Flowers that we used to park on JFK Drive at night to enjoy.
If the excuse for closing it was for children to learn to ride bicycles, why is it closed at night? Do people teach their children to ride bicycles in the dark? It is unfathomable that the needs of the elderly and the disabled and those multi-generational families from outlying neighborhoods are being dismissed. We are human beings and should be treated equally as the able-bodied.
JFK Drive should be reopened immediately, and the Compromise Agreement from 2007 should be permanently restored.
‘
Tomasita Medál, ParkAccess4All
Categories: letter to the editor
I am elderly and have owned a car only one year in my life. I am insulted by the incessant whining by many of my peers who feel the World owes them some sort of homage. No. It doesn’t. These crocodile tears need to stop because I for one will never be impressed by this behavior
LikeLike
I am also concerned that all the entrances to JFK dr. from Fulton will be closed. If JFK is closed how will we get to Fly fishing, Bisons, Spreckels Lake, SD Mini Yacht Club, Dog park? How will we be able to picnic on the lawns adjacent to JFK Drive? Some of us have enjoyed the park on a weekly basis because we could drive and park adjacent to where we were going. Even the museums want JFK open. Please do not close JFK!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree 100% with everything said in this article. I do not live close enough to Golden Gate Park to get there comfortably without using my car and finding a free parking space within the park near to the places I want to visit. Therefore, I have not been to the museums or to Golden Gate Park since the closure of the park and my inability to be able to drive close enough to the Rose garden, the museums, and other places where are used to enjoy walking and visiting. It will not make sense for me to renew my memberships to the museums since I will not go if I am unable to park close enough to them for free. There is no reason to keep any of our roads closed at night in the name of making them into places where people walk and bicycle since no one is there in the dark.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What’s the problem with JFK Drive being car free at night? I thought people were cowering behind their secure fortresses at night. Afraid to step outside in fear of the Barbarian Hordes wreaking havoc on the fearful population.
LikeLike
Both federal and state ADA laws provide mandated equal access to public buildings and other amentities like parks to disabled people. Closing JFK Drive completely denies many disabled people the access and enjoyment of all the attractions in that east area of JFK. For ma y disabled, the only way to get around is in a private car with a caregiver, and those people cannot enjoy this part of the park. It is just a blatant violation of laws in favor of ablebodied people. It is unacceptable.
LikeLike
I am a Senior. I am tired tired of the incessant whining and kvetching exhibited by my peers. All this moaning is nonsense. Nobody is being kept from entering the Park. Thousands upon thousands have enjoyed this CAR FREE oasis. It must become a permanent fixture in San Francisco
LikeLike