The history of the South Doyle Drive project dates back to 1933 when the presently titled Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transit District started construction on Doyle Drive as the southern approach to the Golden Gate Bridge. In September 1945, Doyle Drive was declared a state highway and the California Division of Highways, now known as the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), became responsible for maintaining the section from near the Golden Gate Bridge toll plaza to the Palace of Fine Arts and the Marina District.

In 1955, the Golden Gate Bridge Highway District requested that the State widen and reconstruct Doyle Drive to handle increasing congestion. In 1963, a Draft Environmental Impact Statement proposed the reconstruction of Doyle Drive as an eight-lane highway with a fixed median. Due to public objection to the plan, it was not only dropped but the following year State legislature passed a bill prohibiting Caltrans from widening Doyle Drive to more than six lanes without the specific approval from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. In 1985, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors recommended that Caltrans develop alternatives that would improve safety but not increase the roadway lanes.

In 1991, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors revisited the reconstruction of Doyle Drive and established the Doyle Drive Task Force, consisting of representatives from various local governments and public and private organizations to consider design options and develop a consensus on a preferred alternative. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved the recommendations proposed in the Report of the Doyle Drive Task Force in 1993. The following year, the National Park Service released the Final General Management Plan Amendment (GMPA) identifying the main objectives for Doyle Drive improvements which focus on maintaining the historic value of the surrounding areas, minimizing noise and pollution impacts and enhancing the Presidio entrance and the circulation features. The San Francisco County Transportation Authority developed the Doyle Drive Intermodal Study in 1996 which supports the Doyle Drive Task Force and the GMPA recommendation to make multi-modal and direct vehicular access into and out of the Presidio the central features of the design. The next steps are to complete environmental review process in compliance with State and Federal regulations.