Work on new Chase Arena Muni platform shuts T-Third rail service until April

Muni T-Third trains will not run starting Jan. 22 through the end of March so the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency can work on building a new UCSF Mission Bay transit platform.

Transit officials will replace T-Third service with bus service from Market and Spear streets to Bayshore Boulevard to Sunnydale Avenue. The K-Ingleside will only travel from Balboa Park to Embarcadero Station, where Muni passengers will need to head to the street level to catch the T-Third buses.

The project calls for demolishing both the inbound and outbound platforms at the UCSF Mission Bay stop in favor of a single, larger platform similar to the platform at Oracle Park.

SFMTA Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin said last month that the new platform will help accommodate the large number of people heading to and from the future site of the Chase Arena.

Other pieces of the project include the replacement of overhead wires, widening the track for the new platform, utility work to support the new platform, and upgrading the traffic signals at the new platform.

The SFMTA had two earlier phases of the project, which had only called for the weekend closure of T-Third service.

During the last weekend closure of the T-Third during the Thanksgiving break, the T-Third train service did not start back on time for the Monday morning commute and bus service continued until Wednesday.

Reiskin said a number of causes delayed the reopening of train service, including the weather, a delay in the concrete shipment, and not enough “manpower” during that weekend to complete the work on time.

At the Dec. 18 SFMTA Board of Directors meeting, Reiskin assured directors that while the T-Third will run on buses, bus service citywide would not be affected:

“We believe we can resource this without adverse impact to the rest of the system.”

During the closure of the T-Third line, the E-Embarcadero line and the 83X-Mid-Market express will not run, which will free up some Muni operators, said Reiskin.

While the bus substitution will conclude at the end of March, the new platform will remain closed until late April. The SFMTA is asking riders to use the Mission Rock or Mariposa stations.

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.