Letter: TBM Extraction Alternatives 11/16/12

Dear Neighbor:
 
We hope you can join us on Monday, November 19, for a community meeting about the Central Subway Project and construction activities in North Beach. In the months since our last public presentation in North Beach, we have reviewed four options for the Central Subway’s tunnel boring machines that would not involve removing them at the site on Columbus Avenue between Union and Filbert streets. Community input informed and guided this review process – the review was undertaken in response to feedback from local business owners, residents, community groups and Supervisor David Chiu. Your questions, comments and concerns were instrumental in driving this process forward.
 
Each option has been analyzed for impacts to cost, schedule, local communities and the potential future extension of the T Third Line to North Beach and Fisherman’s Wharf. We will present the findings of the study at Monday’s meeting. In the meantime, you can find a summary of our evaluation online here. We encourage you to review it and prepare any questions you may have.
 
We apologize for the delay in finalizing and presenting this report. To complete the review, we needed to resolve questions about whether performing the analysis would interfere with existing environmental clearances and approvals. We also coordinated with a number of parties, including the City Attorney, the Planning Department, the Federal Transit Administration, the SFMTA Board and the Central Subway tunneling contractor, to ensure the feasibility of the options.
 
We thank you for your patience and support as we build the Central Subway – an essential improvement to San Francisco’s public transit network. We hope to see you on Monday at 7:30 p.m., at the Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center gymnasium (555 Chestnut Street).
 
Sincerely,
Edward D. Reiskin
SFMTA Director of Transportation