Subway Phase III - Chinatown Station to Fisherman's Wharf
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May 28, 2014: SPUR's ideas on Phase III
Why We Need the Central Subway in North Beach and Beyond Julienne Christensen, May 28, 2014.
Excerpt from this article (emphasis added):
Phase II of San Francisco’s Central Subway — which will extend the T-third Muni line from SOMA to Chinatown and the Financial District — is fully underway, and grumblings about the project’s cost and disruption are now so familiar that they fade into background noise. Maybe the time has finally come to evaluate the project for the engineering marvel that it is, one happening largely out of sight beneath some of the most densely occupied and valuable real estate in San Francisco.
Cost and disruption: Yep, just ignore the neighborhoods' grumblings and don't try to reduce the impacts. It costs what it costs? How about tracking the finances and schedules more closely to reduce what will probably be a $500 million overrun and 2-year late delivery. The $500 million overrun will be paid for not from state or federal funds but out of SF taxpayers' pockets.
1.2 miles of subway tunnels from 4th and Bryant to Stockton and Washington is not an engineering marvel. At $1.3 billion per mile it's probably the shortest and most expensive tunneling project in history. In terms of a family's transportation needs it's like buying a Maserati to get to and from the shopping mall.
Initial study - T-Third Line Phase III - subway extension from Chinatown Station to Fisherman's Wharf
Though this has been in informal discussion for years, the first public proposal was at a SF County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) meeting on March 18, 2014. SFMTA, SFCTA, and SPUR proposed an initial feasibility study costing $173,212. View the proposal here beginning at page 143/178.
At a followup meeting on March 25, 2014, the full SFCTA Board met and voted to allocate $173,212 to fund the study. (The SFCTA Board is the same as the Board of Supervisors.) Before the Board voted it allowed Public Comment. The following video best sums up the views of the extension proponents.
Comments in favor of the extension study by Julie Christensen.
- "It's immediately across from Washington Square ... it is a perfect place ... to stage the construction of an underground station without undo disruption to the neighborhood ..."
- Has Ms Christensen been by the Chinatown Station site recently? Five more years of what looks like major disruption (see below).
Fact check: Ms Christensen says "a half million dollars" to remove a piece of the old church foundation, compared to $173K for an Initial study. Even John Funghi pegged the foundation removal at only $200K. Actual amount paid to remove the old church foundation: $0. (See Feb 5, 2014 entry at Configuration Management Board.)
Alternative to a 1/2-mile subway extension
The Last Mile in Emeryville, The "Emery Go Round" free shuttle radio news story.
Chinatown Station construction - do we want similar for 4–5 years at the Pagoda site?