Cracked Beams Repaired, S.F.'s Transbay Transit Center Ready to Reopen

Buses and people will soon return to the Transbay Transit Center, which operated for just over a month at the end of 2018 before structural flaws forced the closure of the facility for inspections and repairs.

2 minute read

June 11, 2019, 12:00 PM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


San Francisco Transbay Transit Center

Pi.1415926535 / Wikimedia Commons

Update: The Transbay Joint Powers Authority announced via Twitter that the Transbay Transit Center will reopen on July 1, 2019.

"Eight months after the discovery of cracked steel girders forced its closure, the Transbay transit center is safe to reopen, an independent panel of engineers and experts concluded Monday evening," reports Michael Cabanatuan.

The Transbay Joint Powers Authority will still have to decide a reopening date, according to Cabanatuan. Still there's reason to believe the buses and people can return to the center fairly soon. "Work to prepare for a reopening has been under way for weeks, and Transbay officials said as recently as the beginning of June that the center might be able to open before the end of the month."

"A five-member peer-review committee appointed by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission at the request of San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf approved the structure for reopening," according to Cabanatuan, after "minor welding flaws were found, repaired and examined but determined not to be of concern."

 A look back at the evolution of the Transbay Transit Center story earlier this year from the Planetizen archives, beginning with the grand opening, through the closure of the facility after the discovery of the cracked beams, and into the ensuing fallout and controversy.

Monday, June 10, 2019 in San Francisco Chronicle

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