A $2 billion transit terminal in San Francisco that shut down shortly after its inauguration last year due to a cracked beam has partially reopened.
The terminal's lobby and its 5.4-acre rooftop park re-opened Monday to the public but bus service won't resume until later this summer.
Officials say programs and activities, including live music, yoga and activities for kids, will restart this week.
The terminal called the Salesforce Transit Center opened Aug. 12, 2018 to great fanfare. Officials closed the terminal in September after finding two cracked beams.
The new center replaced the grim and seismically deficient Transbay Terminal nearby. It is meant to be a modern transportation hub with food trucks, pop-up retails shops, and rooftop park.
An independent panel of experts confirmed that the terminal is safe following millions in repair and can reopen to the public, according to TJPA, which oversaw construction and manages operations of the transit center.
"The transit center was temporarily closed last September as a precaution after fissures were found in two beams on the third level Bus Deck at Fremont Street," the TJPA said in a statement. "Since then, the TJPA has determined the cause of the fissures, repaired and reinforced the area, conducted an exhaustive review of the facility, completed a facility-wide fire and life safety reinspection program with city and state oversight, and recommissioned the entire facility."
That view comes eight months after the discovery of two cracked steel girders shut down the terminal, two weeks after the transit center opened to much fanfare. The authority's Board of Directors has been told it could take as long as four weeks to prepare the center for reoccupation.
Local bus service will begin in early July, with regional bus service following in late summer.
Back in October, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf also asked the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to weigh in about the repairs, reinforcement and the structural steel at the transit center.
This independent panel concluded that the issue was localised to the Fremont Street location, and the transit center could reopen to the public.
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“We are pleased to welcome the public back to the transit center and sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this temporary closure has caused,” TJPA board of directors Mohammed Nuru said. "We can now reopen this critical piece of our transportation network and important source of open space to commuters, the neighborhood and the entire region.”
Timeline:
- Transbay transit center and public rooftop park to reopen July 1
- Muni and Golden Gate Transit will provide bus service from the street level bus plaza in early July
- AC Transit’s 26 Transbay bus lines, Greyhound and Westcat Lynx anticipate service from the bus deck to resume in late summer 2019 following operator training and rider notice
- Salesforce Park, the Grand Hall, Food Trucks and public art installations will be open and available on July 1st.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
