San Francisco, – Lombard Street, the street of San Francisco (California) nicknamed as the “most sinuous in the world” by its eight curves in only 125 meters, will charge $ 10 to visitors who want to travel by car, revealed today the councilor of the City Hall Catherine Stefani.
The Board of Supervisors of the city approved by 11 votes in favor and none against imposing a “toll” on this popular tourist attraction, which is estimated that every year there are around two million visitors with an average of 17,000 tourists at day during summer weekends.
The measure is designed to reduce traffic and tourist pressure on the residents of the area, since on Lombard Street there are residences on each side and from it access to both garages and homes.
Besides the congestion, the neighbors complain about the noise and the lack of civic attitude of some of the tourists, who climb the roofs of the houses and urinate in the portals.
“We must implement a system that allows residents and visitors to enjoy the most sinuous street in the world,” said San Francisco Democrat Congressman Phil Ting, who drafted the state law in the California Assembly that has allowed the City approve the toll.
The rate agreed by the City will not begin to apply until 2020 and will be charged only to vehicles that want to drive through the section with more curves of Lombard Street, which must also make a reservation in advance.
In this stretch of Lombard, which in addition to the curves has a steep slope, you can only go downhill, and most of the residents of the city avoid it, since it is more practical and quick to take alternative routes, so that its use is limited almost exclusively to tourists and residents.
Once the measure is implemented, Lombard Street will join another icon of San Francisco that also charges those who want to drive through it, the Golden Gate Bridge, which makes pay 8 dollars per vehicle to those who cross it to enter the city. locality (EFEUSA).
