2021 Opening Expected for San Francisco's Central Subway

There's a new official date set for the debut of the Central Subway in San Francisco, June 2021, or three years later than originally planned.

Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez reports on Muni's announcement of a new completion date expected for San Francisco's Central Subway: June 2021. The new date has been set after "an exhaustive six-week fact-finding period by the subway’s new director, Nadeem Tahir, the San Francisco Examiner has learned."

The delays leading to this point have not been without consequence, according to the article.

The delays are particularly impactful to merchants from Union Square to Chinatown, who have complained that ongoing construction has led to a drop in foot traffic, and therefore poses a threat to their livelihoods. At least one Chinatown business closed and told the Examiner the construction was to blame, and other merchants have said they are on the brink of closure.

Tahir took the helm of the project in July, with the review of the project as job number one. The hire, and the subsequent review, seem to have ushered a new brand of transparency at Muni.

"This also marks the first time Muni officials have definitively confirmed a Central Subway delay," according to Rodriguez. "But SFMTA repeatedly denied some of those claims, with former SFMTA Director Ed Reiskin adhering to a revenue service date of December 2019 at every turn."