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A Park for People, Not Cars

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Cartoon: happy people celebrate around a "JFK Drive" sign in Golden Gate Park. The "drive" on the sign is crossed out and replaced with a list of "walk, cycle, skate, run, frolic, amble, anything but drive."

In a victory for pedestrians and cyclists, San Francisco supervisors voted 7-4 on Tuesday to ban cars on a 1.5-mile stretch of John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park.

The battle over cars in Golden Gate Park — which was not originally designed for automobiles — goes back over 100 years.

City officials pledge to maintain and improve access to the park for people with disabilities, which has been a point of concern for some who oppose a car-free JFK Drive.

Even though a portion of JFK Drive will now be permanently closed to cars, side streets and a parking garage are still available if you must drive.

With numerous public transit options and nearby parking, as well as improved bike lanes, accessing the park is easy ... but keeping cars out has been the hard part.

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