It appears that the Super Bowl Host Committee sensed the growing public furor over a proposal to remove the overhead Muni wires and disrupt a bunch of surface transit on Market Street, and they announced in a phone call to Jane Kim's office Wednesday that they'd changed their minds about all that. Either that, or someone at the SFMTA convinced them it would be stupid and prohibitively expensive. As the Examiner reports, they made no mention of the public outcry (here and elsewhere), but the committee said they had sat down with Muni and concluded that the plan was too disruptive and said "we want to be good partners with Muni."
Spokesperson for the committee P.J. Johnston issued a statement via Hoodline saying, "Yes, after months of planning we are now confident we can configure Super Bowl City in a manner that avoids the removal of any Muni wires."
And, suggesting that the mayor had weighed in himself, a spokesperson for the mayor's office told the Chron, "The groups jointly decided not to pursue that plan. The footprint of the event will be reconfigured to accommodate Super Bowl City.”
Where exactly the footprint of the fan village will move to is unclear the plan had been to use two blocks of Market Street, up to Beale, in addition to Justin Herman Plaza and part of the Embarcadero. However it now sounds like the two-story structures they're planning to build which the wires would have gotten in the way of will be built somewhere else.
Some surface transit, like the F line, will likely still be temporarily disrupted, but those details are unclear. The hearing on December 7 held by Supervisors Malia Cohen and Jane Kim will still be happening, at which point those details may be hammered out, and issues of safety and terrorism will be discussed in the wake of the Paris attacks. Super Bowl City is set to open January 30 and will be open to the public through Game Day on February 7.
Kim issued a statement saying she was "gratified" by the committee's decision, and said, "The impact on commute times and work productivity for the folks that make San Francisco work would have been so burdensome not to mention the possible consequences for bicyclist and pedestrian safety. These were my greatest concerns so I’m happy that this was resolved."
Previously: Super Bowl 50 Committee Wants Us To Calm Down About Muni Wire Removal, Says They'll Pay For It