BART to spend nearly $100 million to replace overworked, broken down escalators at SF stations

An escalator under repair at the Powell Street BART station in San Francisco on Thursday Jan. 19, 2017. An escalator under repair at the Powell Street BART station in San Francisco on Thursday Jan. 19, 2017. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close BART to spend nearly $100 million to replace overworked, broken down escalators at SF stations 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

It's a sight all BART riders are familiar with. The broken-down escalator is as familiar as the manspreader, the commuter who won't take off his backpack, and the puddle of urine.

If you had a BART-themed bingo card, a broken escalator would be the free space.

But BART wants to change that. The agency is spending $96.5 million to replace outdated escalators in San Francisco's busiest stations. The contract, the most BART has ever spent on escalators, is being paid for with Measure RR funds.

The project will replace 41 escalators at Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell and Civic Center/UN Plaza stations. BART says 22 of those escalators run from street level to the concourse and 18 connect the concourse and the platform. One escalator at Civic Center will be relocated to serve the entrance in front of the Orpheum Theatre.

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"Many of the units being replaced are among the oldest in the entire BART system," reads a BART press release. "Not only have those units outlived their useful lives but they've struggled with handling passenger loads at our busiest stations."

Don't hold your breath though — the work is going to take some time. The first escalators are anticipated to arrive for installation in spring 2020. BART expects to install about six escalators per year. And while work is being completed, those escalators will obviously be out of commission.

The transit agency hopes the new escalators will be more reliable than the ones we have now. The contract requires the contractor to "maintain a reliability rate of at least 96 percent" for the new escalators for 10 years. On top of that, BART is also working on an effort to build canopies over all BART station entrances in downtown San Francisco, which they hope would better protect the escalators from rain.

Read Alix Martichoux's latest stories and send her news tips at alix.martichoux@sfgate.com.

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