Ready or not, 4/20, the unofficial marijuana holiday, goes down this Wednesday. Park Station anticipates that 10,000-12,000 people will descend on the Upper Haight and Golden Gate Park throughout the day, and to compensate, the city will be closing streets, beefing up security, and trying to avoid the chaos of recent years in the neighborhood. 

Transportation

We reported last month that Park Station had announced street closures. Those are still in place—here's a refresher:

• no westbound traffic on Haight or Page past Masonic
• no northbound traffic towards Haight (from Waller) between Shrader and Ashbury
• no southbound traffic towards Haight (from Oak) between Shrader and Ashbury

Traffic routes to be impacted around Sharon Meadow are as follows:

• the Fell Street entrance to Golden Gate Park at Stanyan will be closed, with all westbound traffic diverting north on Stanyan
• JFK and Kezar Drive will be closed westbound and eastbound, respectively
• Frederick Street at Kezar will be closed westbound (westbound routes south of Frederick will be open)
• Stanyan Street northbound from Frederick will be closed

Despite street closures, Muni will continue to travel along its regular routes, and additional buses will be deployed to the area to handle the crowds. "The best way to get around this event is to take Muni," said Ed Cobean of the SFMTA at a press conference this morning.

In addition to street closures and increased bus service, MTA parking enforcement officers will be out in force patrolling the streets for violations—particularly cars blocking driveways or crosswalks. 26 MTA officers will be dispatched to the area to manage violations and traffic control.

Residents are advised to keep in mind that parking is going to be even trickier than usual, with crowds coming in from outside San Francisco. 

Crime Enforcement

Park Station's Capt. Sanford and his team have already began cleaning up around the neighborhood. Beginning at 3am last Friday, police officers were deployed to "interrupt" campsites around the neighborhood and park, and kick people out of doorways they were sleeping in. In addition, they looked for vehicles that people might be living inside, citing the individuals and towing their vehicles. 

Park Station has also been beefing up its drug bust initiative, arresting seven individuals caught dealing to undercover officers since last Friday. On 4/20, expect the street to be heavily patrolled, with officers from other stations around the city coming in to the neighborhood to beef up a police presence. 

In addition to SFPD officers, 18 park rangers will also be out patrolling Sharon Meadow and the surrounding areas. 

Photo: dulouz_cats/Flickr

Cleanup

In past years, heavy crowds have left over 10,000 pounds of trash for the Department of Public Works and Recreation and Parks to clean up. "When I went last year, things looked clean, but there were thousands of little cigarette butts shoved into the grass," District 5 Supervisor London Breed said. 

This year, cleanup will begin immediately after the event, and will continue until dusk. It'll resume early on Thursday morning, with 40 people on hand to clean up whatever's left over.

With the extensive cleanup in mind, Recreation and Parks Manager Phil Ginsburg urges people to pack it in and pack it out. "Respect this park," he said. "Keep it clean, safe and joyous. That's what parks are for." 

But despite all the precautions, authorities say it's inevitable that some problems will await. "Whenever you get 10,000 to 12,000 people in one place, there is going to be an impact," Sanford stated this morning. 

In response, Park Station has created two separate hotlines specifically for 4/20 quality-of-life violations, like "public urination or defecation, graffiti, drunken or threatening behavior, unleashed dogs, exceptional noise, and unusual littering or trash raiding." To make those hotlines bling, dial (415) 242-3060 and (415) 242-3061.

However, Park Station emphasizes that the hotline is not a replacement for calling 911 about a crime in progress, or the police non-emergency line to report a crime after the fact. 

As for how much all of the above will cost: it's not cheap. An estimate of the funds the city is putting into 4/20 clocks in at between $80,000 - $100,000. With this in mind, Breed said she hoped that one day someone would sanction and own the event. "I want someone else to pay for it," she said.