Ocean Beach Climate Change Adaptation Project

planning

Protecting and Enhancing Habitat, Open Space and Coastal InfrastructureThe Ocean Beach Climate Change Adaptation Project will create new public open space, protect key public assets, and ensure coastal access in the face of climate change. The southern part of Ocean Beach is under siege from tides and increasing storms. Erosion has undermined and damaged beach parking lots, stormwater drainage facilities and the Great Highway itself. Storms continue to threaten critical wastewater infrastructure and limit public shoreline access and recreational opportunities. With rising sea levels and more intense storms, erosion is only expected to get worse, which amplifies the urgency to protect coastal infrastructure, habitats, and the beach itself.The Ocean Beach project is the first major climate change adaptation project in San Francisco. When complete, it will create over a mile of new seaside trail; improve coastal access, recreation, and habitat at south Ocean Beach; and protect vital public wastewater and recycled water infrastructure.Project elements include constructing a buried seawall to protect a pump station, recycled water facility, wastewater treatment plant, and other key infrastructure. Other elements include rerouting Great Highway traffic at Sloat Boulevard away from the narrowest part of the beach, building a multi-use public trail with sweeping Pacific Ocean views where the highway is now, and improving beach health through the replacement of sand.Spring 2024 UpdatesIn October 2023, the Planning Commission certified the Final EIR and the project was approved by the SFPUC and Recreation and Parks CommissionsThe Recreation and Parks Commission advanced closure of the Great Highway between Sloat and Skyline Boulevards to the Board of SupervisorsThe current schedule estimates construction will begin in 2025 and last for approximately four years. For more detailed information on these and other improvements, please visit our project websiteOn April 18, the National Park Service published the NEPA Environmental Assessment to consider whether to issue an easement and Special Use Permit for work within NPS land to the City to implement the Ocean Beach Climate Change Adaptation Project. The NPS press release is available here.The document is available for public review on the NPS Planning, Environment & Public Comment (PEPC).Comments on the EA must be submitted through the PEPC website by 5:00 pm on April 30, 2024. After the NPS considers public comments and concludes agency consultation, they anticipate releasing a decision document for the project in summer 2024.