San Francisco’s Newest Park Takes Shape on a Former Highway

There’s a bright orange octopus in the middle of the road. It’s as big as a bus, and there are kids climbing all over it.

Two months prior, this stretch of pavement a stone’s throw from the Pacific Ocean was the domain of speeding vehicles. On this Thursday afternoon, it’s populated by walkers, bikers and a pair of giraffes (in climbable sculptural form).

Such is the scene at Sunset Dunes, San Francisco’s newest park. Until April, this two-mile long, 55-acre space was known as the Great Highway. It was one of the most scenic drives in a city famous for them, rising above ...