SFMTA says Central Subway projected to open for service by end of 2021

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has continued work on the Central Subway Project throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with workers from the contractor and project staff taking precautions and following best practices for physical distancing.

SFMTA says important progress was made over the past few months, but there were also challenges resulting in revisions to target dates for the completion of construction. Heavy construction on stations was scheduled to finish this summer, but now will continue into the fall and finish by the end of the year. The date for revenue service when SFMTA can welcome its first customers is now the end of 2021, which is slightly later than the summer timeframe given last year.

Although construction will continue a little longer into the year than expected, most of the impactful work is complete. All but one street or sidewalk adjacent to worksite is now open. The remaining closed block of Washington Street in Chinatown will reopen once construction is complete later this year as it is a key access point for materials.

Lastly, SFMTA completed an important milestone: finishing an emergency exit for the Chinatown Rose Pak Station on Stockton near Jackson Street. This new exit was a massive endeavor that began in 2015 by excavating down more than 95 feet. Once the soil was removed, the equivalent of a nine-story building was constructed underground -- surrounded by reinforced concrete, waterproofed and then capped with a pneumatic roof hatch.

Once operational, the Central Subway will provide key connections to some of the city’s most densely populated and growing areas, linking Chinatown, Union Square and SoMa to Mission Bay and the southeastern neighborhoods of San Francisco.