Muni will once more try to ruin your life starting next month as a planned — and not well publicized — six-month late-night shutdown of the entire underground system begins to make upgrades to its radio and emergency communications systems. This means that every night starting July 31 there will be no Muni Metro service after 10 p.m. between Embarcadero and St. Francis Circle stations for the K/T, L and M lines; and no service between Church and Duboce and the Caltrain Depot for the N Line; and no service between Mission Rock and Embarcadero for the T Line, as KRON 4 reports.

The suspension of late-night service will go on into January 2016. And, Muni cautions, the last trains out of the Embarcadero might be as early as 9:30 p.m. some nights, and the last train through Castro Station could be 9:45.

The replacement "bus bridge" will start running each night at 9:30 p.m. You can read more details about it here.

It turns out there are 90 old emergency telephones* that need to be replaced. And the work actually involves three separate projects:

  • The Blue Light Emergency Telephone Replacement will provide direct access to emergency services in the event of a natural disaster or medical emergency. Replacing the existing 90 old phones with 181 new ones will improve emergency communications for Muni customers and first responders. Though these phones are only used in emergency situations, the upgrade to a more dependable system is needed to deal with unplanned emergencies, such as a natural disaster or a medical emergency.
  • The Radio Replacement project will modernize Muni's currently outdated radio system and improve communications between Muni Operations Control and vehicles out in the field.
  • The new technology will expand the audio and visual “next stop” announcements in subway and on surface light rail vehicles.
  • The Twin Peaks Tunnel Track Replacement will improve the safety and reliability of trains running through there between Castro and West Portal, and keep the tunnel in good working condition.

The latter project will actually require its own service changes, and those are still TBA.

Have fun out there! And this will clearly be a boon for the ride-share companies, am I right?

Related: Close Your Eyes And Imagine If This Fantasy Muni Map Were Real

* This post has been corrected to reflect that the emergency telephones are not 90 years old, but there are 90 of them.