Supervisor McGoldrick takes lead
on making Golden Gate Park accessible to people with disabilities

From the Office of Supervisor Jake McGoldrick

May 23, 2006

San Francisco - In an effort to ensure that Golden Gate Park is equally enjoyable to everyone, Supervisor McGoldrick introduced legislation today that will bring the Sunday car-free program that has been in existence for close to 40 years in Golden Gate Park, up to The Americans with Disabilities Act standards.

“I am pleased that we are able to strengthen the Sunday car-free program in the park after all these years by complying with The ADA,” said Supervisor Jake McGoldrick.

The issue of accessibility was brought to light when Supervisor McGoldrick proposed a 6-month trial program that would run on Saturdays to mimic the Sunday program in Golden Gate Park. Unfortunately, Mayor Newsom vetoed this proposal which included disability access measures that would have also applied to Sundays.

The legislation that will be introduced today includes but is not limited to: additional accessible parking places in and around Golden Gate Park, accessible drop off zones, an accessible intra-park transit shuttle that will operate frequently along the area of the closure, and additional signage.

The legislation also requires that the Recreation and Parks Department and the Department of Parking and Traffic conduct a study of the impact of the Sunday road closure on use of Golden Gate Park and report back to the Board of Supervisors. This includes particularly disability access and recreational and other use of the roads closed to motor vehicle traffic.

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