Why San Francisco's Great Highway is full of pedestrians on weekends

Closed to cars two days a week, San Francisco's Great Highway is leading the way in post-pandemic urban change. Photo: AFP

The Great Highway in San Francisco is a traffic artery unlike any other in the United States. On weekends, this major thoroughfare is closed to cars and exclusively reserved for use by pedestrians.

The extension of an initiative first unveiled during the first lockdowns of the Covid-19 pandemic, in the spring of 2020, it's become a firm favourite among the city's inhabitants.

It's not the road to hell, but rather a slice of paradise paved with good intentions for city dwellers. The Great Highway, a divided highway on the western, Pacific Coast edge of San Francisco, is an example of post-pandemic urban transformation.