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SFMTA Board of Directors adopts final plan for Phase 2 of Third Street Light Rail Project
2/19/08 – Today, Mayor Gavin Newsom was joined by San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency Director/CEO Nathaniel P. Ford to unveil the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) for the Central Subway, Phase 2 of the Third Street Light Rail Project. The LPA is the actual route alignment the T-Third Line will follow when it is extended from 4th and King to Chinatown. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Board of Directors unanimously voted later this afternoon to adopt the route alignment.
"The impressive progress of the Central Subway Project stems from the strong community support for the project from the southeast sector of the City to Chinatown," said Mayor Newsom. "This project is vital to connecting The City’s civic, business and cultural centers with the diverse communities along the corridor."
The Central Subway Project is Phase 2 of the Third Street Light Rail Project that will link Little Hollywood and Visitacion Valley with Union Square and Chinatown. Once complete, the project will improve service reliability and travel times, enhance transit connections, and provide economic opportunities and access to jobs for local residents. The project is supported by a financial plan that includes significant contributions at the federal, state and local levels.
Based on extensive public outreach beginning in June 2005, the SFMTA adopted a 1.7-mile Fourth/Stockton alignment with three subway stations as the LPA. Subsequently, after additional public input, a modified LPA option was developed that adds a surface station at Fourth and Brannan Streets and extends the tunnels to North Beach.
"The project has received tremendous financial commitment and support at the federal, state, and local levels because it will serve a large number of transit customers in a highly congested corridor," said Ford. "The Central Subway project will provide convenient subway service to jobs, medical care, educational opportunities and entertainment for residents and visitors from Visitacion Valley to Chinatown."
A key milestone in the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (Draft SEIS/SEIR) process, the adoption of the LPA comes after months of review and public comment, which began when the Draft SEIS/SEIR was released for public review on October 17, 2007. The LPA was selected from three alternatives evaluated in the Draft SEIS/SEIR.
The projected number of future daily boardings for the T-Third Line, including the Central Subway, is 78,000. The Central Subway segment will reduce travel time between the Caltrain station at Fourth Street and King Street to Chinatown from 20 minutes to 7 minutes. It will serve regional transit connections, major tourist destinations, convention facilities and the large number of residents in the corridor who do not have cars.
The Central Subway has been favorably evaluated by the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) as a "New Starts" project and is receiving federal funding from Congress. The Central Subway received a medium-high to high rating in the latest round of FTA evaluations announced earlier this month.
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