SFMTA announced on July 22 that it will begin Radio Replacement and Blue Light Emergerncy Telephone Replacement projects on all metro Muni lines. These projects aim to improve Muni's, "systemwide communication capabilities and keep trains running safety and reliably through the city." 

This means that construction will require nightly subway shutdowns from 10pm to approximately 5am the next morning. During these shutdowns, bus shuttles will provide substitution. 
The subway tunnel upgrade will start Friday, July 31, 2015 and is anticipated to end January 2016.

Additional Information on Service Adjustments:

• The inbound J Church will end at Church and Market. Transfer to bus shuttles at the F Line streetcar stops on Market Street.
• The inbound N Judah will switch back at Church and Duboce. Customers getting off the train can walk one block to Market Street to board shuttle bus to downtown.
• The inbound K Ingleside will end at St. Francis Circle.  Customers can transfer to a bus to travel to downtown.
• The inbound M Ocean View from Balboa Park will travel through St. Francis Circle and become the outbound L Taraval to serve the L line stops beyond West Portal.  Inbound L trains from the Zoo will turn into the outbound M line at West Portal.
• The T Third Street will switch back at Embarcadero Station except the periods between Aug. 17-Aug. 24 and between Aug. 31-Sept. 10 when work will take place at Embarcadero. During these periods, the T trains will end at Folsom Street. Bus shuttle service will be extended to Folsom Street.
• Bus shuttle frequency: approximately every eight minutes.

Have fun folks!

Content for this article was taken with permission from SFMTA.

As part of the Sunset Tunnel Trackway Improvement Project, the SFMTA will resume the weekend construction on the Sunset Tunnel beginning on March 20-22. By replacing the aging track and other infrastructure inside the Sunset Tunnel, the project will help improve safety and reliability of the N Judah rail service for Muni customers.


In response to the concerns raised by some neighbors, the SFMTA has modified the work plan to better control the night time noise. Noise mitigation measures will include:

• Using both west and east portals for removal and handling gravel ballast
  
• Delivering gravel ballast to the job site only between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Fridays through Sundays
  
• Installing mufflers on the construction equipment and using acoustically attenuating shields or shrouds on impact tools
  
• Using new backup alarms with lower noise level
  
• Using electric powered rather than diesel-powered equipment whenever possible

The Sunset Tunnel construction is scheduled to take place on 15 weekends. Since there were several cancelations in January and February, additional weekends may be required. The tunnel work is expected to be completed in fall 2015. The next tentative dates are the weekend of March 27.

What to Expect during Weekend Construction:

• Crews will work continuously from approximately 8 p.m. on Friday until 5 a.m. on Monday.
  
• The majority of the work will take place inside the Sunset Tunnel and at the tunnel entrances.
  
• Noise control measures will be implemented; however the work will be audible throughout the weekend.
  
• The streets near the tunnel entrances will remain open.
  
• To accommodate the tunnel work, parking restrictions will become effective from Friday 12 a.m. to Monday 5 a.m. on both sides of Duboce Avenue from Steiner to Scott Street, and on both sides of Carl Street from Clayton to Cole Street.
  

Weekday Work:
Prep work, such as wielding and moving the rails, will continue at the two staging areas by the portals during the day. In order to keep the local traffic flowing and maintain the N Judah rail service during day time hours, new rails will be delivered at night.  

Weekend Bus Substitution Service:

• Bus shuttles will substitute for the N Judah rail service between Church & Duboce and Ocean Beach.
  
• Bus substitution will start at about 7 p.m. on Friday and will be operated during regular service hours until early Monday morning.
  
• The bus shuttles will follow the N Judah Line making regular stops except for the tunnel portion where buses will be routed to Haight Street.
  
• Regular N rail cars will continue to provide service between Caltrain Depot and Church & Duboce.
  
• The N Judah stops at Church & Duboce will provide a transfer point between bus shuttles and trains for Muni customers.
  
• The weekend N Judah Owl bus service will not be affected.
  

Other Ongoing N Judah System Improvement Projects: 

Maximizing construction opportunities, the SFMTA has integrated multiple construction components under the Sunset Tunnel project in order to minimize the inconveniences for both N Judah riders and the community around the construction area.

The Transit Signal Priority (TSP) system upgrades are taking place at nine intersections sequentially along the N Judah Line. On the March 20 weekend, crews will be installing signal loops between the tracks at the intersection of Judah and 9th Avenue. The work will start approximately at 8 p.m. Friday and continue until early Monday morning. We will schedule the work to avoid late night time noise. During construction, the streets will remain open; however there will be lane closures and traffic will be diverted. Street parking at construction site will be temporarily unavailable.   

The TSP system will use technology to reduce dwell time at traffic signals for Muni light rail vehicles by holding green lights longer.

The construction of the westbound wheelchair accessible platform on Judah and 28th Avenue is scheduled to be completed by the end of March. The new stop will be in service as soon as the work is done. Construction of the eastbound stop on the other side of the street was completed in early February.   
The new platform will include longer boarding islands and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant curb ramps, making Muni Metro system safer and easier to use for all customers.

For concerns or assistance, please contact: Tess Kavanagh, Project Manager, at 415.701.4212, via email attess.kavanagh@sfmta.com or Jay Lu, Public Relations Officer, at 415.701.4387, via email at jay.lu@sfmta.com.

According to Clippercard.com, SFMTA plans to increase all adult single ride fares and monthly passes on September 1, 2014. It seems as though that change machine at Doug's Suds at Carl/Cole will get a bit more use from muni riders thanks to the amount of change necessary to get anywhere. What do you think of this fare increase, given all the construction, overcrowding, and delayed trains?




Current fares are the following:

Adult Single Fare: $2
Adult Muni Only Pass: $66/month
Adult Muni & Bart Fastpass: $76/month

There's what the fare increases will look like this September:

Adult Single Fare: $2..25
Adult Muni Only Pass: $68/month
Adult Muni & Bart Fastpass: $80/month

So remember when there were all those awful jackhammers and disruption on Carl Street a year or so ago? Well, they are at it again. Luckily, we don't think the jackhammers will be joining them this time. Some of you might have received a leaflet in your mail outlining the upcoming "updates". Here's the deal:

Starting Monday, July 28th through August 22nd, the SFMTA's contractor will begin work on traffic signal infrastructure work for the Carl and Cole intersection. (See clarification from SFMTA rep below) What we do know is that the main work will involve cutting a trench along the sidewalk on the north side of Carl Street (between Cole and Stanyan). Whoops, guess that does mean jackhammers. 

What to expect:

• Work hours will be from 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday
• Work will start at Carl and Cole streets and proceed west 
• The streets will remain open (ultimately walking on Carl will be a disaster, not to mention those of us who will live above these said sidewalks. Lovely).
• Access to local businesses and residence will be maintained (again, no sidewalks)
• Muni service will not be affected (well, guess that's a good thing)
• Street parking will be unavailable where work is taking place (more parking spaces bite the dust)
• There will be some noise during excavation of concrete sidewalk (you mean jackhammers right?)

Other locations that will get the traffic signal "upgrade":

• Irving Street, from 3rd Avenue to 9th Avenue - August 25th to September 19th
• 9th Avenue, from Irving to Judah Street - September 22nd to October 3rd
• Judah Street, from 16th Avenue to 19th Avenue - October 6th to October 31st
• Judah Street, from 35th Avenue to Sunset Blvd - November 3rd to November 28th

This will be fun folks. 

UPDATE: 
We got in touch with SFMTA Project Manager, Tess Kavanagh, who was able to clarify what they mean by "traffic signal upgrades".

"To clarify, we are not installing any new traffic signals as part of the Sunset Tunnel project. We are upgrading the existing traffic signal system in order to improve travel times for the N-Line. The traffic signal upgrades include the installation of new signal wire loops within the roadway that will communicate with the existing signal lights, turning them red or green as needed to give the LRV’s priority through the intersection.For example, the work at Carl & Cole involves the installation of a signal loop that is serving the signal that exists at  Carl & Stanyan, two blocks away."

Thanks to our good friends at Hoodline, who dropped the story over the weekend, we've heard that SFMTA are working on rolling our prototypes for new N Judah seating configurations. SFMTA hopes that the new configuration will ease crowded trains during commute hours. Their solution? They are removing (yes removing) 14 double-seats and replacing them with nothing. Removing the seats will increase floor space, which will give an extra 10 people to get on the train. Hope they add more rails to hold on.

The pilot program started on May 18th and will end on Friday, May 30th. Riders will expect to see this new set up roughly every 70 minutes. And word has it that the L-Taraval will have a similar proposal later this summer.

What are you thoughts on the new seat configuration proposal? 

Article was originally posted on Hoodline and SFMTA.. 

Tomorrow, Saturday March 8 from 10 AM to noon is your next chance to hear about upcoming proposed service changes to the 6 line.

The meeting will be held by the SFMTA to discuss upcoming citywide changes, including those to our own little hamlet, and will be held at the second floor auditorium at 1 South Van Ness.

The service changes relevant to the Haight (other than changed service frequency) includes re-routing the 6 to bypass majority of Cole Valley and Frederick's Knob as part of the new Transit Effectiveness Project.

Don't want to go to the meeting. Express your comments at tellmuni.com. 

Article originally posted on @uppercasing.

Yup, this is still happening. We wonder what's next.

From the postcard:
"Please join us to learn about the Sunset Tunnel Trackway Improvement Project. By replacing the aging track and other infrastructure inside the Sunset Tunnel, the project will help improve safety and reliability of the N Judah rail service. This meeting will provide an opportunity to review the project elements and address questions and concerns about the construction phase of the project."