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Castro station

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Coordinates: 37°45′45″N 122°26′08″W / 37.76252°N 122.43553°W / 37.76252; -122.43553
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For the former station in Mountain View, see Castro station (Caltrain).
Muni Metro station Castro
Inbound train at Castro station in August 2013
General information
LocationMarket Street at Castro Street and 17th Street
San Francisco, California
Coordinates37°45′45″N 122°26′08″W / 37.76252°N 122.43553°W / 37.76252; -122.43553
Owned bySan Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
Line(s)Market Street subway
Platforms2 high level side platforms (Muni Metro)
1 low level side platform (Muni surface)
Tracks2 (Muni Metro)
2 (Muni surface)
ConnectionsBus transport Muni: 24, 33, 35, 37
Construction
Structure typeUnderground
AccessibleYes
ArchitectReid & Tarics Associates[1]
History
OpenedJune 11, 1980[2]
Services
Preceding station Muni Following station
Forest Hill
towards Balboa Park
 K Ingleside Church
towards Embarcadero
Forest Hill
towards SF Zoo
 L Taraval
Forest Hill
towards San Jose and Geneva (Balboa Park)
 M Ocean View
Forest Hill
towards West Portal
 S Shuttle
Surface stop at 17th and Castro
Terminus F Market & Wharves Market and Noe
towards Jones and Beach
Location
Map

Castro station is a Muni Metro station at the intersection of Market Street, Castro Street, and 17th Street in the Castro District of San Francisco, California. The underground station is served by the K Ingleside, M Ocean View, and S Shuttle lines. The F Market line serves the station on the street level at 17th and Castro.

Station layout and history

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F-Market streetcar on the surface at 17th and Castro in 1999

The station consists of two side platforms next to the tracks on the second level down with the concourse mezzanine level overlooking it. Uniquely among Muni Metro stations, the platforms are slightly curved due to the transition from the Market Street subway to the Twin Peaks Tunnel between this station and the now-disused Eureka Valley station, just southwest. At both Castro and Church, there is only one entrance on each side of Market Street leading into the station. (All other stations on the Market Street subway have entrances spread out along the length of the station.) The southern entrance is located in Harvey Milk Plaza on the southwest corner of Market and Castro, and the northern entrance and street elevator on the northwest corner of Market and 17th.

The station was constructed by BART as part of the Market Street subway. The BART Board approved the name "Castro" in December 1965.[3] It was designed by Howard Grant AIA of Reid & Tarics Associates and was completed in 1976. Service at the station began on June 11, 1980.

Castro station features a transit plaza at the corner of Castro Street and Market Street. In 1985 it was dedicated to Harvey Milk, the slain SF supervisor and first openly gay elected official in California.[2][4] In May 2016, the escalator in Harvey Milk Plaza was retrofitted with colored lights (to resemble the rainbow flag that flies above the plaza) after being rehabilitated.[5] This test was considered a success; lights were added to 17 other escalators in the system, including the other three escalators at Castro, in 2018–19.[6][7]

Muni plans to construct accessibility improvements, including a second elevator, in Harvey Milk Plaza at the south entrance of the station.[8][9] A 2020 determination that the plaza is eligible for inclusion on the California Register of Historical Resources was not expected to impact elevator construction, but could stall the larger plaza project.[10] Elevator construction began in June 2023, with completion expected in 2026.[11]

In 2022, a new decorative railing was added on the F Market & Wharves boarding island as part of the Upper Market Street Safety Project. It features a quote from Harvey Milk's 1977 "You've Got to Have Hope" speech, as well as an illustration of streetcar #1051, which is dedicated in Milk's honor.[12][13][14]

References

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  1. ^ Cerny, Susan Dinkelspiel (2007). An Architectural Guidebook to San Francisco and the Bay Area (1st ed.). Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith. pp. 501–502. ISBN 978-1-58685-432-4. OCLC 85623396.
  2. ^ a b Callwell, Robert (September 1999). "Transit in San Francisco: A Selected Chronology, 1850–1995" (PDF). San Francisco Municipal Railway. p. 58.
  3. ^ "Names Approved for 38 Rapid Transit Stations Around Bay". Oakland Tribune. December 10, 1965. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Bracco, Steven (January 10, 2020). "A History of Castro Station and Harvey Milk Plaza". Hoodline.
  5. ^ Keeling, Brock (May 20, 2016). "Castro Unveils Rainbow Escalators In Time for Pride". Curbed San Francisco.
  6. ^ "Color Lights Installation Coming to Muni Metro Escalators" (Press release). San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority. March 14, 2018.
  7. ^ Phelan, Lori (October 29, 2019). "New Escalators Rising to the Challenge" (Press release). San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority.
  8. ^ "Castro Station Accessibility Improvements Project". San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority. 15 August 2017. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  9. ^ Bracco, Steven (December 18, 2019). "Castro Muni station to get new elevator, as Harvey Milk Plaza redesign remains in limbo". Hoodline.
  10. ^ Bajko, Matthew S. (July 15, 2020). "Harvey Milk plaza elevator project moves forward". Bay Area Reporter.
  11. ^ Bracco, Steven (June 27, 2023). "Construction Begins on Long-Delayed Castro Muni Station Elevator Project". Hoodline. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  12. ^ "Upper Market Safety Project: Summer 2021 Construction Update" (PDF). San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. June 2021.
  13. ^ "Streetscape Plan" (PDF). San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. June 2021.
  14. ^ Bajko, Matthew S. (October 19, 2022). "SF project adds Milk nod to Castro arterial". The Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
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Media related to Castro station at Wikimedia Commons

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