San Francisco's long awaited central subway line linking the South of Market (SOMA) to Chinatown is in the first stages of construction. The official ground breaking took place on February 9th as many Chinatown businesses celebrated the new transit line, which they believe will bring more business to the historic San Francisco neighborhood. The business owners in Chinatown have complained for years that the destruction of the Embarcadero freeway during the Loma Prieta earthquake has made it tough for them to generate tourists revenue because the neighborhood is hard to get to.
The new underground subway line will be an extension of the T-3rd Street line beginning at Fourth and King Streets with an above ground terminal near the Cal Train Station. The line will continue to 4th Street and Hamilton, the Moscone Center, Union Square and finally Chinatown. The project will cost a projected $1.5 billion and the federal government has contributed $72 million to the project. The federal government will contribute $1 million of the total cost to the project once the construction is complete. The construction of the underground subway is estimated to created between 30,000 and 40,000 jobs which will employ local residents until the completion of the project in 2018.
