The new director of the sprawling agency that sets transportation policies in The City had some reassuring words Thursday for anyone concerned that he’ll be in over his head due to his lack of transit experience.
“I’m a fast learner,” said Ed Reiskin, formerly director of San Francisco’s Department of Public Works. “Give me a month and I’ll be well-versed in all these things.”
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After looking at Muni’s Central Subway project, the civil grand jury reached the same conclusion that most nonpartisan observers have — it’s a useless money pit just waiting to suck down whatever is left of the public transit system’s dwindling revenues.
But no one listens to grand juries, a fact that once got me placed on a press panel of national grand jurors, who seemed somewhat wounded that all their hard work could be so casually ignored.
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Muni’s Central Subway plan ignores major transit corridors, has funding fraught with uncertainties and will add to the agency’s already-strained long-term budget shortfall, a civil grand jury report said.
The report, released Thursday after seven months of research and interviews, found major faults in the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s plan to extend its underground train service from the Financial District to Chinatown at a cost of $1.6 billion.
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Muni’s board of directors approved a $233 million tunneling contract for its Central Subway project on Tuesday, a move seen as an essential step by the agency, but decried by its critics as too hasty.
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At last week’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor John Avalos (who is running for mayor) announced he is requesting that the city attorney draft a housing bond measure that would fund “affordable housing development,” “transit-oriented development” and “upgrades to single-family homes including seismic safety retrofits, green energy production and energy efficiency measures, and bringing buildings up to code.” In addition, the bond would provide down-payment assistance for first-time ho
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Three months ago, construction crews broke ground at Union Square as the start of the $1.6 billion Central Subway project, a vast undertaking that will extend Muni’s rail service from the SoMa district to Chinatown.
The controversial plan, in the works for two decades, has been praised by supporters as an essential project to improve the dismal transportation options in the Chinatown corridor, and assailed by critics as a wasteful boondoggle.
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Critics of the $1.58 billion Central Subway have called it expensive and unnecessary, and now they are taking issue with its design.But Muni officials say any perceived design flaws were actually practical decisions.
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The job status of Muni’s executive director, which has been in question for the past month, is likely to be decided Wednesday.Nathaniel Ford, who took over as chief of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency in January 2006, is considered the leading candidate for the top position at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, a department that manages transportation operations at the two main airports in the nation’s capital.
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Mayor Ed Lee planned to welcome President Barack Obama at San Francisco International Airport on Thursday night by saying “thank you” for the federal money earmarked for The City’s Central Subway project and high-speed rail.The president is set for a brief meeting with Bay Area business leaders in technology and innovation, according to a White House statement.
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Fresh off the news that the federal government has issued renewed support for a $200 million funding allocation for the project and with new construction work starting up near Union Square, local residents will discuss other updates to Muni’s $1.6 billion Central Subway undertaking.
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