DTX RALLY: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 11AM at City Hall Steps

Join Rail Pak, Livable City, Coalition for SF Neighborhoods, Friends of Caltrain, Sierra Club, Transit Riders Union, SF Tomorrow, Bay Rail Alliance, TRAC, SaveMuni, TRANSDEF, BATWG and others.

A UNITED FRONT TO ACCELERATE DTX AND A REGIONAL TRANSIT HUB

▪ Prioritize and complete the region’s highest transportation priority!

▪ Fulfill the voter mandate of 1999 Prop H to extend Caltrain to the Transbay Center.

▪ Alleviate traffic gridlock and pollution—by reducing the projected 320,000 daily car trips from the south peninsula (more than car trips of the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridgecombined).

▪ Offset diminished streets, sidewalks, utilities, Muni transit and environmental quality caused by upzoning and increased density—originally predicated on the promise of DTX.

▪ Fulfill the promises of an integrated regional transit hub, connecting Caltrain, BART, Muni Metro, Muni buses, AC Transit, SamTrans, Golden Gate Transit and other transit modes. No more delays!

A Grand Central Terminal of the West—not more traffic gridlock and a choked Muni system.

Central Subway tunnel boring machines will live on

By Jessica Kwong : sfexaminer – excerpt

Tunnel-boring machines Big Alma and Mom Chung might be finished with Muni’s Central Subway project, but they have thousands of feet left in their arsenals. Upon refurbishment, they would be suitable for more local projects, such as extending the subway farther or building tunnels for BART’s extension to San Jose.

BART is currently building more track south from Fremont and into northern San Jose, with the goal of one day going into the downtown area. For a future project, 5 miles of the BART extension in San Jose would require underground tunneling, although designs are still being refined. If the refurbished Central Subway tunnel-boring machines meet the criteria for BART, they “certainly would be worth considering,” said Bernice Alaniz, a spokeswoman for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, which is building the extension because it is out of BART’s district.

An extension of the Central Subway to Fisherman’s Wharf is being studied. But even if that moves forward, Big Alma and Mom Chung are not designed to make a turn that would be necessary for the project… (more)

Deal reached to lease out North Beach theater for Central Subway work

By: Will Reisman : sfexaminer – excerpt

A deal has been reached to bring up Muni’s Central Subway machinery at an abandoned theater in North Beach.
The transit agency, along with Board of Supervisors President David Chiu and the Mayor’s Office, had been locked in talks to lease out the Pagoda Palace as a way to store equipment and extract tunnel-boring machines needed for the 1.7-mile transit extension project.
Per the agreement, Muni will pay $9.15 million to use the site, which includes up to $3.15 million to building owner Joel Campos for 24 months of rent and other reimbursements. The rest will be spent tearing down the existing building and extracting the machinery.
Originally, Muni had planned on bringing up the machinery in the middle of Columbus Avenue, but backed off after a strong outcry from local residents and merchants.
As part of the deal, city officials have agreed to waive some zoning restrictions for future development at the site. That requires naming the site a special-use district. The Planning Commission is scheduled to vote today on whether to declare the site a special-use district… (more)

RELATED:
Deal Reached for Central Subway Project