Fort Mason Tunnel

Fort Mason Tunnel
The west portal of the Fort Mason Tunnel in disuse
Overview
Line State Belt Railroad
Location San Francisco, California
Coordinates 37°48′19″N 122°25′52″W / 37.8054°N 122.43118°W / 37.8054; -122.43118Coordinates: 37°48′19″N 122°25′52″W / 37.8054°N 122.43118°W / 37.8054; -122.43118
Status Closed
Start Van Ness
End Marina Blvd. at Laguna St.
No. of stations None
Operation
Opened 1914
Closed 1993
Owner National Park Service
Character Underground tunnel
Technical
No. of tracks 1
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

Fort Mason Tunnel is an abandoned single-track railway tunnel in San Francisco. It was built in 1914 to bypass Fort Mason. The east portal is near the north end of Van Ness Avenue, and the west portal feeds onto the east end of Marina Boulevard at Laguna Street.

History

The tunnel's construction in 1914 served several purposes. The rail link supplied goods and mass transit to the Panama Pacific International Exposition the following year,[1] and the US Army utilized the line for construction of the Port of Embarkation.[2] The tunnel operated as part of the State Belt Railroad until the route's suspension in 1993.

Future

Fort Mason extension
 Fort Mason
proposed
Fort Mason Tunnel
proposed
 Van Ness
proposed
Powell–Hyde
Hyde and Beach
proposed
Jones and Beach
E Embarcadero F Market & Wharves

In 2012, the National Park Service released a final environmental impact report on providing extended service though the tunnel to the San Francisco Municipal Railway F Market & Wharves line.[3] The cost of refurbishment and extension of the rail line was estimated at $60 million in 2017.[4] The E Embarcadero line may also see extension through the tunnel.

References

  1. ↑ Saperstein, Susan. "San Francisco Tunnel History and Miscellany". Guidelines. SF City Guides. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  2. ↑ "The San Francisco Port of Embarkation". NPS.gov. National Park Service. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  3. ↑ "Extension of F-Line Streetcar Service to Fort Mason Center". NPS.gov. National Park Service. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  4. ↑ Chappell, Jim (28 June 2016). "Bring streetcars to Fort Mason". The San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
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