San Francisco May Charge a Fee to Drive the ‘World’s Crookedest Street’

Lombard Street in San Francisco is laid out like a driver’s worst nightmare, but that hasn’t stopped fleets of tourists from lining up to conquer it. Each year, about 2 million visitors head to the sloped road to experience its zig-zagging trajectory, annoying local residents in the process. The traffic has gotten so out of hand that San Francisco is considering imposing a toll and a reservation policy on the famed roadway, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Those are two potential solutions to Lombard’s congestion problem currently on the radar of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority. The department has launched a study looking into ways to reduce disruptive visits to the attraction. Other strategies include offering discounted cable car fares to the site to discourage driving and closing the block to nonresident pedestrians and vehicles.

The commotion on Lombard Street isn’t a new issue for the Russian Hill neighborhood. Locals are used to dealing with litter, vandalism, and car break-ins on a regular basis. In one recent case, a resident had to use a golf club to chase two men off his roof.

The city has experimented with solutions before, like employing traffic ambassadors and briefly banning cars from the area in 2014. So far, nothing seems to have changed the situation for the better, but an admission fee may provide the neighborhood some relief.

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