Subway completion faces delay
April 21, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO — An ambitious plan to build a commuter subway between SoMa and Chinatown is going to cost more and will need an additional two years to complete.
Officials previously envisioned the Central Subway carrying passengers by 2016. But a newly released mandated federal study said the project will not be finished until December 2018 and that the total cost will likely be $1.58 billion, or $278 million more than The City had estimated.
The study may signal a two-year delay for the project, but it comes with an important endorsement from the federal government, said Kate Breen, manager of government affairs for the Municipal Transportation Agency, which is overseeing the project.
“This project is very much on track,” Breen said.
“It’s not good news that we have to push the completion date to 2018, because two additional years will mean additional cost increases,” said José Luis Moscovich, executive director of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority.
The subway project has spent decades in the planning process, with cost and completion projections altered several times. The Federal Transit Administration’s ninth-month-long study was required for the project to receive federal dollars, Moscovich said. The study considered all aspects of the construction feat, from boring into tunnels to negotiating with residents who live along the subway’s planned path, the federal agency said.
The federal government will provide most of the funding, probably some $946 million, according to the Federal Transit Administration assessment, including an extra $180 million to help pay for the additional cost estimate.
The transit administration also wants to increase the amount of federal money provided annually to the project to $150 million, rather than $100 million, so The City can pay off loans more quickly, Moscovich said.
When all is said and done, the subway will begin at King Street along Fourth Street, enter a tunnel north of Bryant Street, cross beneath Market Street and continue underground to Stockton and Washington streets. Tunnels will also be extended to Columbus Avenue between Union and Filbert streets.
The line will include four stations: a surface station at Brannan Street and underground stations at Moscone Center, Union Square and Chinatown.
The project has state and federal environmental clearances, and the Municipal Transportation Agency is currently in the latter stages of preliminary engineering. It’s recruiting construction teams, preparing for the final design and continuing outreach with residents of affected neighborhoods.
Where the dollars go
The cost and time of completion of the Central Subway has exceeded The City’s original estimate.
Previous estimate
Total project cost: $1.3 billion
Project completed: 2016
New estimate
Total project cost: $1.58 billion
Project completed: December 2018
New funding plan
Federal: $946.2 million
State: $348.2 million
Local (including transit sales tax): $287.9 million
Total: $1.58 billion
