9-day MUNI major track replacement project starts

Construction crews begin work on replacing rails at Church and Duboce Streets in San Francisco. (CALIFORNIA BEAT PHOTO)

SAN FRANCISCO — A major rail replacement project that will eventually make the “clickity-clacking” when crossing Church and Duboce Sts. on MUNI Metro sound and feel less jarring began as scheduled Friday night.

Like a dentist’s drill, jackhammers pulverized asphalt and ripped out the aging streetcar tracks at the intersection and along Carl Street near the UCSF Medical Center.

The nine-day project will replace worn-out rails with newer tracks and switches, hopefully leading to smoother rides and fewer problem points on the tracks that have been blamed for several streetcar derailments along Church Street. MUNI will also build boarding islands and improve sewer mains nearby during the project.

Service on the N-Judah Metro line was replaced by shuttle buses from the Van Ness Ave. MUNI Metro Station Friday night. Service on the J-Church line stopped short of the Market Street subway, requiring riders to transfer at Church and Market Sts. to other trains headed downtown.

MUNI officials said the transition on Friday night appeared to go smoothly.

The construction project also impacts the 22-Fillmore bus line, which has been rerouted around the construction zone on Castro and 18th Streets. Planned reroutes for the 43-Masonic and 37-Corbett bus lines were cancelled at the last minute, according to the Municipal Transportation Agency. Parking spots along the construction zones have also been removed and residents living along Carl Street have been warned that they may not be able to access their homes.

By the morning of June 4, San Francisco transportation officials hope to reopen the streets to traffic after test trains roll on the new tracks.

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