An early-morning sinkhole has snarled the J Church and N Judah today, in what we can only hope is the last Muni mess of 2015.
The troubles apparently started at around 5:45 this morning, when the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency tweeted that a sinkhole at 24th and Church Streets had cut the J Church light rail service off at the knees:
ATTN: #JChurch line blocked in both directions at 24th & Church due to sinkhole. Shuttles en route to supplement service.
— SFMTA (@sfmta_muni) December 31, 2015
And though the N Judah doesn't pass through that intersection, its "pullouts were impacted," causing trouble on that line, as well.
ATTN: #NJudah line may be impacted by a sinkhole @ 24th & Church. Expect delays.
— SFMTA (@sfmta_muni) December 31, 2015
@27suns @KTVU #NJudah pullouts were impacted, as well as all #JChurch line service.
— SFMTA (@sfmta_muni) December 31, 2015
By 6:06, Muni had gotten bus shuttles together to tote the J's stranded passengers over the gaping maw. Passengers will take the regular old J light rail between Embarcadero and 22nd, but before/after that they must switch to a bus.
UPDATE: #JChurch shuttles servicing the line from 22nd/Church to San Jose/Geneva.
— SFMTA (@sfmta_muni) December 31, 2015
UPDATE: #JChurch operating LRV service from Embarcadero Station to 22nd/Church. Shuttles btw 22nd/Church to Balboa Park.
— SFMTA (@sfmta_muni) December 31, 2015
Muni hasn't released any information on the magnitude of the sinkhole (like, are we talking pothole or Hellmouth?) as of publication time, and says that inspectors are assessing it.
@mazzetti_gina Hi Gina, we have inspectors on scene assessing the situation.
— SFMTA (@sfmta_muni) December 31, 2015
The Chron reports, however, that "the sinkhole looked to be a about two-feet wide and four feet long, with a cavernous space running at least 10 feet in all directions underneath the crumbling pavement."
"Running water could be heard coming from the hole," they report, "leading workers to suspect a pipe had burst under the road."
According to San Francisco Public Utilities Commission spokesperson Tyrone Jue, the sinkhole appeared after an 18-inch sewer main ruptured.
The SFMTA has yet to announce when they expect regular J service to resume. Here's hoping that as it's practically a holiday, the number of commuters inconvenienced was low.