Driving In Downtown San Francisco Discouraged

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Motorists are urged to avoid driving in downtown San Francisco today following the closure today of the Salesforce Transit Center and Fremont Street between Howard and Mission streets, officials with the Transbay Joint Powers Authority said.

The transit center, located at 425 Mission St., closed after workers found a cracked beam on the third-level bus deck in an area near Fremont Street, Transbay Joint Powers Authority executive director Mark Zabaneh said.

The Salesforce Transit Center, which only opened last month, and the stretch of Fremont Street, are closed indefinitely.

Transit riders can catch buses to the East Bay and other Bay Area locations at the Temporary Transbay Terminal at Howard and Main streets where bus service was located before the Salesforce Transit Center opened.

But city officials are asking transit riders to give themselves more time for their commute.

An inspection is being done on the cracked beam and all steel beams throughout the center, according to the Transbay Joint Powers Authority. Officials with the authority plan to provide an update on the safety of the center by noon Wednesday.

"We're going to try to reopen as soon as possible but it's a safety issue," Zabaneh said.

According to Zabaneh, the beam was last inspected when it was installed last year.

Stretching four city blocks, the four-story transit center boasts a 5.4-acre rooftop public park and space for pop-up retail shops, art displays and restaurants.

"It's very disappointing that we have to inconvenience the public but it's a safety issue and we take it very seriously. We can't take any chances," Zabaneh said. "We felt, out of an abundance of caution, that we should close the transit center and we're attempting to determine the cause of the crack and the measure we need to take to fix it."

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— Bay City News; Image via Shutterstock