SAN FRANCISCO — Repairs on two cracked beams that led to the closure of the Transbay Transit Center have been completed ahead of schedule, setting the stage for reopening of the $2.2-billion facility.
Officials with the Transbay Joint Powers Authority announced Thursday that the repairs were done, KTVU-TV news reports. Previously, the authority had indicated the work could take until June. Contractors will now reinstall light fixtures and other material that was removed during the repair process, and await the result of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s independent peer review on the repairs. If that review — expected to be complete this month — approves the repairs, the facility will be cleared to reopen, which could happen in June.
“We would need ramp-up time to staff up, so we would need probably about a four-week period to be able to get bus training, get buses inside, staff up and so forth,” TJPA executive director Mark Zabaneh told the TV station.
The transit center, which spans four city blocks, includes a rooftop park, opened as a bus terminal but is also designed to serve as the San Francisco terminal for California’s high speed rail system. It opened in August 2018 but closed after just a few weeks when the cracks in two major support beams were discovered. [See “San Francisco transit center to remain closed another week following discovery of second cracked beam,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 27, 2018.]
William- OK, thanks. That makes more sense. I was well familiar with the old original Trans Bay terminal downtown from visits many years ago.
Has anyone on News Wire seen this building ? When it first opened, I got the impression that it was all underground, with a ground-level park covering its roof. But now I wonder if it sticks up out of the surface at least one or two floors. Anyone know?
It’s 2 to 3 stories tall with a park with trees on the roof