Construction To Disrupt N Judah, J Church Muni Lines For More Than A Week
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - Muni service on the N Judah and J Church lines will be disrupted for nine days because of construction work that begins Friday, according to San Francisco Municipal Railway officials.
Muni plans to replace the street car tracks, signals and switches, and overhead wires at the Duboce Tunnel, effectively shutting down train service at the intersection of Church and Duboce from 7 p.m. on May 25 to until 5 a.m. on Monday, June 4.
"We recognize that this is going to be disruptive and inconvenient, and we're working very hard to mitigate that in any way we can," said Ed Reiskin, director of transportation for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.
KCBS' Barbara Taylor Reports:
Shuttle buses will replace surface level N Judah light-rail vehicles every day of the closure, and weekday N Judah Express buses will continue to run at normally scheduled times.
Rail service will still run on the J Church line from Balboa Park Station to Church and Market, where passengers headed downtown will need to transfer to another underground line.
The 22 Fillmore will be routed around the construction, but otherwise continue to operate normally.
Reiskin said the improvements would prevent breakdowns that have sometimes crippled service during commute hours on lines that serve more than 50,000 riders every week.
"Because the stuff is all worn out and it's time to replace it, it causes failures," he said.
Bicycle advocates say the shutdown offers an excellent opportunity to try biking to work, even though the construction will require a small detour on one of San Francisco's most heavily used bicycle commuter routes.
The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition plans to lead workday convoys to downtown to try bike commuting as an alternative to shuttle buses while the trains aren't running. The group rides will not happen on weekends or Memorial Day.
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