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Fillmore Street Tunnel

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Coordinates: 37°47′31″N 122°26′04″W / 37.7920°N 122.4345°W / 37.7920; -122.4345
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Fillmore Street Tunnel
Cross-section of proposed Fillmore Street Tunnel (1913)
Overview
LocationSan Francisco, California
Coordinates37°47′31″N 122°26′04″W / 37.7920°N 122.4345°W / 37.7920; -122.4345
Statusplanned
RouteFillmore Street
StartSutter Street
EndFilbert Street
Operation
Opened——
TrafficRailroad, automotive, and pedestrian
Technical
Length4,332 feet (1,320 m)
Tunnel clearance19 feet (6 m)
Width29 ft (8.8 m) (rail + ped)
25 ft (7.6 m) (vehicle)
Route map
Map

The Fillmore Street Tunnel was a proposed double-bore tunnel approximately 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) long in San Francisco, California which would have carried Fillmore Street and a new streetcar line underneath Pacific Heights and Russian Hill. The proposed tunnel would have connected the Western Addition and Fillmore Districts, near the south portal at Sutter Street, with Marina and Cow Hollow, near the north portal at Filbert Street. One tunnel would have been reserved for railroad and pedestrian traffic, while the parallel tunnel would have been for vehicles. The tunnel was planned, along with the contemporary Twin Peaks and Stockton Street Tunnels, to serve the traffic that was anticipated from the 1914–15 Panama–Pacific International Exposition.

The tunnel was first announced in early 1912. However, the preparation of detailed plans and permits delayed the estimated start of construction to July 1914, which meant the tunnel could not be completed in time to service the Exposition, and the project was killed in September 1913.

History

[edit]
Diagram showing how the Fillmore Tunnel would connect Harbor View with the Western Addition

Shortly after the directors of the Panama–Pacific International Exposition (PPIE) selected a site in the Harbor View district, the merchants along Fillmore formed the Fillmore Street Improvement Association (FSIA) to study the possibility of constructing a tunnel along Fillmore Street.[1] The FSIA hired an engineer to prepare preliminary plans and estimates, and FSIA members visited similar contemporary tunnels in Los Angeles to obtain practical advice; an official announcement was scheduled for early January 1912.[2] Fillmore Street had come into prominence following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which forced many businesses to relocate from Market to Fillmore.[3] In addition to the temporary benefit to speed traffic to and from the PPIE, the Fillmore Tunnel was expected to spur development along the northern waterfront for trade via the Panama Canal and to shorten the commute from the Marin County suburbs.[4]

The modest cottages, the old-fashioned residences that now dot the Harbor View district will in time give way to modern apartment houses, hotels, office buildings and mercantile structures. Harbor View, once a dreary waste of swamp, the dumping ground of refuse, the "cow hollow" of the past, is destined in a few short years to be the scene of swarming commercial activity. The Fillmore street tunnel is the magician's wand that will work this transformation.

San Francisco Call, Sep 12, 1912[5]

The Fillmore Street Tunnel and a rival parallel route under Steiner Street, one block to the west, were compared in January 1912. While Steiner Street proponents declared their tunnel would be shorter and less expensive, the FSIA argued that tradition and existing streetcar routes favored their proposal.[6] They pressed the case for Fillmore in a front-page editorial published in January 1912,[7] and the editors of the San Francisco Call agreed with FSIA.[8] By February, the Fillmore alignment was being favored over competing parallel routes along Steiner, Pierce, and Divisadero; however, the land and tunnels committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors delayed their official endorsement of the Fillmore Street Tunnel proposal while awaiting the results of consultant Bion J. Arnold's study;[9] Arnold declared his support in March 1912 via telegram.[10] Later that month, the City Attorney determined that rail service could be provided through the tunnel as an alternative to the existing surface streetcar franchise granted to the United Railroads of San Francisco (URR) on Fillmore;[11] URR service was via the 23-line (Fillmore-Valencia) up the south side of Fillmore to Broadway, connecting to the Fillmore Counterbalance funicular on the steep north side down to Green on the Bay waterfront.[12][13] Arnold followed up with a written report in April 1912 with a more detailed design and a cost estimate of $1.7–1.8 million, depending on configuration.[14]

Map
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750m
780yds
2
1
Planned portal locations for Fillmore Street Tunnel
1
North portal (Filbert)
2
South portal (Sutter)

Funding for the tunnel became an issue. Special assessment districts were established to cover the areas at the north and south ends of the tunnel, keeping with precedent established for the contemporary Twin Peaks and Stockton Street Tunnels.[15] Property owners within these districts would be responsible to pay an extra land value tax based on property size; in return, the tunnel was expected to increase the assessed value of the property in the assessment districts after completion. The fairgrounds for PPIE were in the northern special assessment district, but the land had been leased, and the PPIE Company could not agree on a plan to share the cost of the special property tax with the owners.[16] In April 1912, the PPIE Company declined a tunnel assessment cost-sharing proposal, stating their budget was reserved for construction of buildings and grounds for the Exposition.[17] The northern assessment district for the Fillmore Tunnel was projected to overlap with a western assessment district for a planned Broadway Tunnel, which would have caused some property owners to pay for two tunnels.[18] The competing Devisadero [sic] Street Improvement Association also filed a protest over their inclusion in the special assessment district, stating they would receive no benefit and promoting their alignment instead.[19] Residents of Harbor View also opposed further industrial development of their neighborhood.[20]

View north along Fillmore towards San Francisco Bay and Marin County, taken north of the intersection with Broadway (2009); the steep grade is apparent.

By September 1912, the preliminary engineering design was complete and legal work began to acquire the properties needed to widen Fillmore at the north and south portals.[5] In December, the San Francisco Call reported that plans for the Fillmore Street Tunnel were almost completed, and estimated that construction would begin the following Spring; according to City Engineer M.M. O'Shaughnessy, the tunnel would take approximately 11 months to complete and would have been ready by Spring 1914.[21] The Fillmore Street Tunnel Property Owners' association was formed that month to advocate for the tunnel's construction.[22]

On February 24, 1913, the Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a resolution to build a streetcar line on Van Ness Avenue (completed in 1914 as the D Geary-Van Ness) and construct the Fillmore Street Tunnel.[23] Arnold's report to the City of San Francisco, submitted in March 1913, urged "the Fillmore Street tunnel should be built immediately, extending from Sutter Street to Filbert Street, with the necessary street-widening at portals to preserve the roadways at either side for street-cars, traffic, and sidewalks." The proposed Fillmore tunnel offered the best combination of grade and level despite its relatively long length.[24]: 218–9  In May 1913, the lands and tunnels committee were beset by property owners in the special assessment districts demanding to know what their levies would be, bringing further progress to a halt.[25] The number of protests led at least one supervisor to propose the cost should be spread city-wide instead of two special assessment districts.[26] O'Shaughnessy quashed rumors the Fillmore Street Tunnel would cost $6–10 million, stating that his estimate was less than $3 million based on detailed designs his office was preparing in June 1913.[27][28]

Plan of the Panama–Pacific International Exposition grounds at Harbor View; Fillmore connects just to the right of the phrase "main exhibit palaces".

Although the tunnel had not started construction by June 1913, the Call confidently predicted that work would begin that fall; upon completion, 80% of San Francisco's residents would have direct access to the central gate for the Panama–Pacific Exposition via the proposed tunnel.[29] Plans were also announced that Robert Dollar Steamship Company would add large concrete docks to Harbor View once the fair had concluded, giving more support for the Fillmore Street Tunnel, leading to notable real estate speculation along Fillmore.[30][31]

Cutaway profile of Fillmore Street Tunnel project (1913)

However, the final design for the tunnel continued to be delayed until August,[32] leaving little time for construction to complete prior to the exposition.[33] In addition, costs were expected to be relatively high: while the Twin Peaks tunnel had been contracted for $4 million, the shorter Fillmore tunnel was expected to cost $2.9 million because of its greater complexity and width.[34][35] Tunnel advocates appealed directly to Mayor Rolph and asserted the $2.9 million estimate was overly conservative, meaning the special assessment, estimated at $1 per square foot of property, should be closer to $0.08/ft2 instead.[36] In a late push to build support, The Call ran stories throughout 1913 featuring supportive citizens, businessmen, and property owners in the assessment districts.[37][38][39][40][41]

Despite these efforts, by September the directors of the PPIE firmly opposed the tunnel, saying that construction activities would disrupt the exposition and that it would not be ready by 1915.[42] One of the original advocates for the tunnel, Samuel Adelstein, now also opposed the tunnel's construction, as he felt the improvement district levies for his property was disproportionately large.[43][44] Believing that it could not be finished in time for the exposition, the Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution to abandon the Fillmore Tunnel project in mid-September;[45] by that time, the estimated start of construction had slipped to July 1914.[46][47]

Design

[edit]
South portal (at Sutter)
North portal (at Filbert)
Artist's renditions of the Fillmore Street Tunnel portals (1912–3)

The tunnel was to run 4,332 feet (1,320 m) from Sutter to Filbert, including approaches. Its design was divided into two bores: one was 29 feet (8.8 m) wide for pedestrian and rail traffic, and the other bore was 25 feet (7.6 m) wide with three vehicle lanes.[21] The maximum vertical clearance within the tunnel as designed was 19 feet (5.8 m) at the center of each bore. When completed, the maximum grade along Fillmore would have been reduced to 2.3 percent; an alternative, constructing a balanced cable way on the surface, would require a maximum 25.4 percent grade.[24]: 220, Table 15  Arnold's study, which included considering alternative routes for both low-level tunnels along Steiner (from Pine to Union) and Divisadero (from Pine to Lombard), and high-level tunnels along Divsiadero (Sacramento to Greenwich) and Broadway (Mason to Larkin), concluded the Fillmore tunnel offered the best (low-level) approach and grade, but would cost significantly more than the similar Stockton Street Tunnel due to its additional length and bore size.[24]: 223–4 

The design would have widened Fillmore along the two blocks at either end (between Bush and Sutter on the south, and between Union and Filbert on the north) to accommodate the approaches; the existing URR Fillmore line would continue to run over the hill. In the initial plan, the tunnel was to be bored from the north using a tunneling shield, with the material removed to be used as fill to reclaim land at Harbor View.[2]

Several test wells were drilled along the proposed route to determine the composition of the hill. Although most of the test bores encountered only sand and clay, near the crest of the hill at Broadway, the drill encountered broken rock 23 feet (7.0 m) below the surface and would not go further.[48]

References

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  1. ^ Adams, C.F. (August 26, 1911). "Fillmore Street Tunnel necessary for access to Harbor View". San Francisco Call. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  2. ^ a b Adams, Charles Francis (December 23, 1911). "Fillmore Hill to be pierced by two tubes". San Francisco Call. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  3. ^ "Tunnel Through Fillmore Street Hill". San Francisco Call. December 24, 1911. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Great Building Activity in this City During 1912". San Francisco Call. January 5, 1913. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Way Being Paved for Fillmore St. Tunnel". San Francisco Call. September 22, 1912. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Rival Tunnel Factions Meet in a Powwow". San Francisco Call. January 12, 1912. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  7. ^ "Fillmore Street Tunnel is Urged". San Francisco Call. January 14, 1912. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Locate the Tunnel in Fillmore Street". San Francisco Call. January 16, 1912. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  9. ^ "Committee postpones decision on tunnel". San Francisco Call. February 24, 1912. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Leading events of week among improvement clubs". San Francisco Call. March 2, 1912. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  11. ^ "U.R.R. Can't Bar Fillmore Tunnel". San Francisco Call. March 10, 1912. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  12. ^ "'Fair, Please': Streetcars to the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition". Market Street Railway. January 10, 2005. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  13. ^ Menzies, Jeremy (March 3, 2016). "The 22 Fillmore - SF's Forgotten Funicular". San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  14. ^ "Expert Reports on Tunnel Plan". San Francisco Call. April 12, 1912. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  15. ^ "Drive Ahead With the City Tunnels". San Francisco Call. March 3, 1912. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Tunnel work brought near starting point". San Francisco Call. March 16, 1912. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  17. ^ "P.P.I.E. Co. Won't Pay Assessment". San Francisco Call. April 16, 1912. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  18. ^ "Bore Assessment District Overlaps". San Francisco Call. May 12, 1912. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  19. ^ "Present conditions are a menace to health". San Francisco Call. July 27, 1912. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  20. ^ Dyl, Joanna L. (2017). Seismic City: An Environmental History of San Francisco's 1906 Earthquake. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press. p. 253. ISBN 9780295742472. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  21. ^ a b "Fillmore St. Tunnel to be Begun Early in Spring". San Francisco Call. December 21, 1912. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  22. ^ "Tunnel Association Organized". San Francisco Call. December 12, 1912. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  23. ^ "Municipal Road Bill Passes by a Unanimous Vote". San Francisco Call. February 25, 1913. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  24. ^ a b c Arnold, Bion J. (March 1913). "10. Tunnels into Harbor View". Report on the Improvement and Development of the Transportation Facilities of San Francisco (Report). Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  25. ^ "Fillmore tunnel report ordered". San Francisco Call. May 24, 1913. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  26. ^ "Fillmore tunnel fate is delayed pending report". San Francisco Call. May 26, 1913. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  27. ^ "Fillmore Bore to Cost $3,000,000, says expert". San Francisco Call. June 7, 1913. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  28. ^ "The Fillmore Street Tunnel". San Francisco Call. June 25, 1913. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  29. ^ "Fillmore Street Tunnel Opens Up Great Possibilities for City's Growth". San Francisco Call. June 28, 1913. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  30. ^ "Great Docks planned for Harbor View after Fair". San Francisco Call. July 12, 1913. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  31. ^ "Big Docks for Law Brothers' Land at Harbor View". San Francisco Call. July 14, 1913. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  32. ^ "Plans for Fillmore St. Bore ready Aug. 1". San Francisco Call. July 10, 1913. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  33. ^ "Tunnels offer opportunity for City's growth". San Francisco Call. August 9, 1913. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  34. ^ "Tunnels will be built cheaply". San Francisco Call. August 2, 1913. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  35. ^ "San Francisco's New Tunnels". The Architect and Engineer. Vol. XXXIV, no. 1. August 1913. p. 140. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  36. ^ "Tunnel Association urges Mayor to act". San Francisco Call. August 29, 1913. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  37. ^ "Events of the week among civic clubs". San Francisco Call. January 12, 1913. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  38. ^ "Fillmore Street Chiefs favor tax for Tunnel". San Francisco Call. July 2, 1913. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  39. ^ "Tunnel to help city many ways". San Francisco Call. July 5, 1913. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  40. ^ "Harbor View Section Setting the Pace". San Francisco Call. July 26, 1913. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  41. ^ "Tunnels will cause real estate revival". San Francisco Call. September 6, 1913. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  42. ^ "Directors assert Tunnel would hurt Fair". San Francisco Call. September 9, 1913. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  43. ^ "Fillmore Tunnel Advocates Urge Quick Action". San Francisco Call. September 10, 1913. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  44. ^ "Adelstein Guilty in Tunnel Deal, Vote Fillmore Improvers". San Francisco Call. October 7, 1913. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  45. ^ "Board of Supervisors Abandons Fillmore Street Tunnel Proceedings". Municipal Record. Vol. VI, no. 38. September 18, 1913. p. 1. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  46. ^ "Fillmore Tunnel Fate Up Today". San Francisco Call. September 15, 1913. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  47. ^ "Fillmore Tunnel will not be built". San Francisco Call. September 16, 1913. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  48. ^ Bartell, M. J. (May 1913). "Logs of San Francisco Wells: Harbor View District". Report on the Underground Water Supply of San Francisco County (Report). City and County of San Francisco. pp. 111–112. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
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