Re: BART on Geary?
Author: mook
Date: 01-02-2014 - 18:22
One of the posts farther back in this thread had the actual technical reason for the wide gage - crosswind resistance for trains at apeed, especially but not exclusively on the GG Bridge. The fact that it provides a more stable ride in general and a slightly larger loading gage is a side effect. Avoiding SP issues with freight competition is urban legend at best.
Some kind of Geary St. subway has been planned for ages, but there has never been the money to do it. The only glimmer of hope was when BART looked at a Marin connection over the GGB - Geary was the best way to go. When that died, so did any realistic chance of a Geary subway. Though if SF can spend $1B/mile for the 3rd St.-Chinatown dig it should be possible to do something on Geary, eh?
The Muni subway in Market St. and thru the Twin Peaks Tunnel was NOT an afterthought when BART no longer needed the space. It was part of the plan to start with. Keeping tracks on the surface on Market was the afterthought. Leaving them there to rust pending street reconstruction was a temporary cost-saving measure that later allowed them to be reactivated.