Construction began Wednesday with a groundbreaking ceremony for the Transbay Transit Center, San Francisco's new state-of-the-art, multi-modal transportation hub designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects. Scheduled to open in 2017, this landmark glass-and-steel structure will connect the city and the Bay Area via 11 public transit systems. Notably, the Transbay Transit Center will be the San Francisco station for California High Speed Rail and the first new high-speed rail station in the United States. Conceived as "the Grand Central of the West," the building is designed in the spirit of the great train stations of the world. The highly sustainable and accessible building is distinguished by dramatic light-filled spaces and a 5.4-acre rooftop park.
Here's some TV coverage of the groundbreaking yesterday.
http://abclocal.go.com/...
The Transbay Transit Center, which is planned to act as the terminus station for the nation's first high-speed rail system, has been dubbed the "Grand Central Station of the West Coast."
"We are opening a new chapter in the history of progress," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at today's groundbreaking ceremony. "We are coming together to create jobs and vitalize our economy to make San Francisco, once again, a national model for economic development."
Along with featuring the tallest skyscraper on the West Coast, a 5.4-acre park and 100,000 square feet of retail space, the Transbay Transit Center will service 11 transit agencies and act as the northern terminus for the state’s high-speed rail project, which is projected to begin operating in 2020.
Wednesday’s speakers took turns praising each other for their support of the project while making note of the historic implications of the groundbreaking.
"This project is the ultimate manifestation of smart growth," Newsom said. "When we get done ... we’ll be talking about a new icon in San Francisco."
http://www.sfexaminer.com/...
"Grand Central Station of the West" Breaks Ground
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/...
Ray LaHood - Obama's Republican Transportation Secretary was at the event.
He was giddy.
"I've attended a lot of events since becoming Transportation Secretary. But, I don't know if I've ever seen as much excitement from a crowd as I did at yesterday's groundbreaking of the Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco. And there are plenty of reasons to be excited."
http://fastlane.dot.gov/...
48,000 new jobs.
More than $4 billion in spending on much needed infrastructure.
This is what recovery looks like. There should be projects this large in every part of the country. Americans want to work, and we want to live in a first world country again.
http://transbaycenter.org/