Vintage streetcars already run through Mission Bay and Dogpatch on their way in and out of service, so why not run E-line historic streetcars here?
Market Street Railway has been strongly advocating for extensions of the E-Embarcadero vintage streetcar line west from Fisherman’s Wharf to Fort Mason, and south from the Caltrain Depot at Fourth and King. The southern extension would use the existing T-line tracks via Fourth, Channel, and Third Streets to serve the proposed Giants’ Mission Rock development and Warriors’ Arena, UCSF Mission Bay, three new shoreline parks, and thousands of new residences now coming on line or in the pipeline in Mission Bay and Dogpatch.
A new opinion piece in the Examiner offers strong support for our idea. Penned by J. R. Eppler and Tony Kelly, the leaders of the influential Potrero Hill Boosters neighborhood group, it notes the benefits of the southern E-line extension to residents and businesses alike. The Potrero Hill Boosters join neighborhood and small business groups in Dogpatch and Mission Bay/South Beach/Rincon Hill in supporting the extension. In fact, it was neighborhood initiative that led us to extend our vision for the E-line all the way through Dogpatch. (We originally envisioned an extended E-line turning back near Pier 70, but neighbors urged us to consider the projected explosive residential growth from there to Islais Creek, and we agreed.)
As the Examiner story points out, the historic streetcars currently run this route every day anyway, going to and from Muni Metro East at 26th and Illinois, where they are currently stored. maps vietnam An existing, underused loop track through that facility could provide a terminal for the extended E-line at no capital cost, or a new terminal track could easily be constructed on Illinois between Cesar Chavez and 25th Street, leveraging the existing switches at Third Street to keep costs to a minimum.
There’s no question more transit is needed in this fastest growing part of San Francisco. We’re pleased that the Potrero Hill Boosters see the E-line as an important part of the solution.
If the E-Line were to be extended further along the T-Line would there be any issues with differing journey times with the different types of vehicle compared with present or future LRVs – either in dwell times at the stops or different stop to stop running times? Presumably less of an issue with the PCCs rather than with the Milan or other types of car. A welcome development if there are no such issues. An obvious alternative would be to extend one of the other LRV routes beyond Embarcadero.
Can you provide more detail on what platform changes might be needed for this service? The Embarcadero stretch has dual low (E) and high (N/T) platforms, for the differing streetcar heights, but it doesn’t look like there’s room for that along Third Street. There’s a discussion about this on our Potrero/Dogpatch Nextdoor, where J.R. references this post. It seems like you’re more endorsing the concept, but anything you can relay about feasibility/cost would be helpful!
The 5 stops along 3rd st the E line would serve(with Mission Rock in the north to 23rd st in the south) have very short low platforms that could be extended a good 60 feet to allow E line trolleys to use them. If anything, the E could use the T platforms at those stops to let wheelchairs on.
Also, due to the future Warriors Arena being located at 16th and 3rd sts, a new joint E&T stop should be built there as well.