17th Street Plaza: Open for Business

Jamison Wieser
1053 at the opening of the Castro Plaza

Jamison Wieser photo.

Now is a good time to be living in the Castro District. Wednesday evenings we now have a farmers market and yesterday the 17th Street pedestrian plaza at the corner of Market & Castro officially opened. For now the plaza is only a 2-6 month trial with temporary fixtures, but it already seems to be popular and getting a good response.
On Saturday May 16, the neighborhood will be holding an opening celebration starting a 12:30 PM including a sidewalk sale put on by the Merchants of Upper Castro and Market. It will be a good time to hop on the F-line and check it out if you haven’t already.
More on the opening…

» Mayor Newsom Unveils SF’s First Pavement to Parks Plaza (Streetsblog)
» Castro plaza opens, three more on tap (SF Gate)
» Castro Ped Plaza Launches Amid Much Sitting, Strolling (Curbed SF)

Share

Comments: 5

  1. That is NICE!! I like it!! Need more like it!! What route is the bus on, coming into the photo, on the right?

  2. I was there 2 years ago and it was a real pleasure to take photos of the F-Line cars without any autos coming in the way. Well.. of course, a cafè with the PCCs in sight (or nearly in your coffee) is fascinating, but…
    Btw: Will the (now “covered”) streetcar-tracks that cross the intersection and the new plaza stay in service, and what’s about the trolleybus-overhead?

  3. TO: Streetcar fan from Germany: The trolley bus overhead is no longer in use. It was for the #8 Market Street Trolley Bus that was replaced by the F line PCCs.

  4. Thanks, Dennis. As far as I know, the tracks connect to the TwinPeaks Tunnel. Is the tunnel still useable for the PCCs? When I was there in 2007, I heard rumours that the tunnel overhead will be reworked so that PCCs can’t use the tunnel anymore. If this is so, the remaining tracks across the intersection (and the new plaza) would be obsolete, at least for the PCCs.
    Btw: Is there a TRACKplan of the MUNI-network anywhere in the www? It would be nice to get some, because that makes a simulation more easier.
    I really enjoyed my holiday in SF, I’ll be back… 🙂

  5. TO: Streetcar fan in Germany: Yes, the overhead in the Twin Peaks Tunnel has been reworked and it is now unuseable for PCCs. But, the tracks, across the intersection are still useable for LRVs. If work has to be done on the Church Street or Castro Street Stations, the LRVs on the K, L and M lines would exit the subway at the Duboce Street exit, where the N and J lines exit. They would then follow the J Church Line to 17th Street where they would turn off and proceed to a bypass track at the F line terminal, cross the intersection and proceed into the Tunnel. This procedure has been used in the past when one of the stations, Castro Street, I think, was rebuilt, or track work was done. RE: A MUNI track plan: log onto http://www.sfmta.com, click on Transit, then on Maps, and take your pick. Don’t know if that’s what you want. You might also log onto: http://www.world.nycsubway.org for a lot of great photos, newest and from the past. Hope all this helps.

Comments are closed.