A day ahead of its public opening, San Francisco’s new Presidio Tunnel Tops park held a ribbon-cutting ceremony, where some of the park’s largest donors came together with community leaders and politicians to celebrate their work.
On November 7, park managers and community and civic leaders, led by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, broke ground on 14 acres of new national parkland atop highway tunnels with dramatic views of the Golden Gate, the Bay, the Presidio and the San Francisco skyline.
The park is intended to complete the transformation of the descent from the Main Post and Crissy Field — evoking topography that was altered in the 1930s when the Doyle Drive viaduct was erected to link downtown San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.
After three years of negotiations between the Presidio Trust, Caltrans, and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, construction on the Presidio Tunnel Tops is finally moving forward.
The 14-acre tunnel top park, which is currently in construction, is proving to be a more complex project than anticipated. It has become the subject of negotiations between the Presidio Trust and Caltrans, the state agency that built the parkway.
By its nature, any large development project comes with false starts and crossed fingers. The unexpected twists that cast long shadows across the best-laid plans.
