Now that the T-Third is up and running, we can all start focusing on the next big MUNI project, the central subway. This is a proposed underground that would go from near the ballpark to Chinatown. After Pelosi was able to secure us funding for it, everything seemed honky dory. But not so fast-- problems have been raised. We'll give you three guess as to what sort of problem came up: a Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller? A protest by the San Franciscans for Mole People (actually, they prefer the term Surface Challenged)? Brutal mob war shutting down the labor unions? Nope, you're wrong. The correct answer would be money. There's problems over money.

You can pretty much see where this is going, cant you? Basically, it's going to cost a sh--load of money to build and nobody is quite sure it's necessary. Supporters say it'll ease congestion. Opponents say it's not really needed and just a huge boondoggle, thank you very much. The government had committed $762 million to the project but yesterday decided to add some strings to it, mainly that we need to speed things up or lose the funding. The main problem the Feds are seeing is that Muni hasn't really put together any sort of set plan. They even set a deadline, that of September 30 and what they're looking for is more in the way of financing and cost estimates.

The project is estimated to cost about $1.4 billion dollars. If it's a success, they hope to extend it into North Beach and Fisherman's Wharf. Of course, it would also help if it connected to anything.