[Perklol]

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/articl...aw-5920673.php

Extending S.F.’s Central Subway would draw riders, study says

By Michael Cabanatuan Updated 7:42 pm, Wednesday, November 26, 2014


A construction worker prepares one of the two tunnel boring machines for extraction at Powell Street and Columbus Avenue in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, June 25, 2014. Big Alma and Mom Chung have completed the tunneling portion of Muni's Central Subway project from South of Market to North Beach

It’s not time to start planning your Muni Metro ride to pick up crab or cheap souvenirs at Fisherman’s Wharf, but a new study finds that extending the Central Subway to the northeastern waterfront is not only possible but would draw tens of thousands of new riders and compete well for federal funding.

The Central Subway, itself an extension of the T-Third Muni Metro line, is under construction from the Caltrain station at Fourth and King streets to Chinatown. Tunnels, but no rails, reach farther, to North Beach. The study is the first to look at bringing a rail line to two of the city’s top tourism destinations and densest neighborhoods.

And while the study offers encouragement to those who would welcome an extension, the project has no funding, isn’t yet included in any transit plans, and would require extensive planning and years of construction. And generate, most assuredly, plenty of opposition.

“While projections of this type are difficult to make, the earliest a new rail extension to Fisherman’s Wharf could begin operations would be at least a decade in the future,” said Paul Rose, a spokesman for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which commissioned the study along with the San Francisco Transportation Authority and the city Planning Department.