Fremont Street reopening delayed until next week

Officials with the Transbay Joint Powers Authority are delaying the opening of Fremont Street from this Friday until next Wednesday.

Constructions crews have been working nonstop to install a temporary fix at the Salesforce Transit Center since crews found two cracked steel beams late last month, which forced the closure of the transit center and Fremont Street between Howard and Mission streets.

Officials said they have completed part of the work installing a shoring system on the street level that will help stabilize the transit center until there is a permanent fix. Crews are still working on the shoring system on the other levels of the transit center, including on the bus deck and two levels below the transit center known as the train box.

Mark Zabaneh, executive director of the TJPA, said in a statement:

“It is important that we have an extremely robust shoring system to ensure that all levels of the transit center are safe and secure. Unfortunately, this requires us to keep the street closed until this work is complete. We will reopen Fremont Street as soon as safely possible and apologize for the ongoing impact to the public.”

Crews have also been working on installing a shoring system at the First Street portion of the transit center out of an abundance of caution. No cracks have been found on the First Street side of the transit center but it shares a similar design with the Fremont Street portion.

There will be one more late-night closure of First Street to complete the work from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. next week with a date still undetermined.

The TJPA Board of Directors will meet at City Hall on Thursday to receive an update from Zabaneh on the ongoing work at the transit center.

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.