Bay CrossingsFocus

Like Night and Day

By Bobby Winston

The title song from the 1970’s sitcom The Jeffersons says it best: "We’re Moving on Up!" Except for East Bay riders it’ll be to the South Side. More about that later.

With the opening of the newly renovated Ferry Plaza, a renaissance of the San Francisco waterfront, so long awaited and debated-over, is finally taking shape. But for ferry riders, work on the piece de la résistance is just getting underway.

A little history: there was a silver lining to the Loma Prieta Earthquake and it was the collapse of the dreadful Embarcadero Freeway. This soulless concrete slash, the nightmarish legacy of misguided freeway zealots, severed the City from its waterfront in a way that only a Communist central planner could love. The Earthquake, disastrous though it may have been, presented a golden opportunity to restore San Francisco’s waterfront.

The anchor of San Francisco’s waterfront is, of course, the Ferry Building so planning naturally began there and has radiated outward. For years, the to-be-expected-in-San Francisco battles raged: should the freeway go underground or overhead? What should it look like? And so on, and so on and so on.

To the credit of all involved, the Ferry Plaza has turned out wonderfully. With but one perhaps churlish asterisk on the vaguely fascistic statues, those Olympic-torches-on-steroids that loom ominously over Ferry Plaza, the renovation is an unquestioned success. Befitting a proud City, it is grand and opulent, yet welcoming and practical. Importantly, many excellent mass transportation options – BART, MUNI and, naturally, ferries — converge at the Ferry Building.

Yet the Ferry Building as a place to accommodate ferry riders – its original, present and future calling – got little attention until the dedicated staff of the Port of San Francisco took matters into their own hands.

Long-suffering ferry commuters know all-too-well that improvements are long overdue. Waiting in line unprotected from a lashing winter storm detracts significantly from the charm of ferry commuting. Even on the best of days, the drab, utilitarian look of Pier ½ is, even to be charitable, esthetically challenged.

Ferry workers have also sought changes to improve safety and efficiency. At present, the heavy passenger ramps at Pier ½ must be manually lifted into place, unlike the Golden Gate Ferry ramps, which are hydraulically controlled. The obsolete Pier ½ system is a safety hazard to dock workers and also has the effect of sharply limiting how quickly passengers can get on and off their vessel, since no more than two people can walk abreast of each other.

Standing in the way of any improvements was, predictably, lack of money. The Port of San Francisco staff doggedly pursued federal and state grants – landing $15 million – and added to that $2 million cobbled from their own funds. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and Senators Feinstein and Boxer were instrumental in winning federal support, going to bat for ferryriders again and again. Even the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), which has fought plans for expanded ferry service,

It turns out $17 million was enough to deal with just about everything on the wish list. Bay Crossings has been given an exclusive peek at the dramatic improvements that all ferry riders will soon be experiencing for themselves on an everyday basis.

Safety came first in the planning process, which is as it should be since ferries are becoming not just faster but more numerous to boot. The reconstructed pier will be "earthquaked" with a breakwater installed to the South. Ferry riders will be glad to know that the new breakwater will make for noticeably more comfortable landings.

But while function had to come first, form is still very much part of the equation. The new Pier ½ will be resplendent with arched coverings doing double duty, protecting ferry riders from the elements while tying in esthetically with new Ferry Plaza. Indeed, the same prestigious architectural firm that designed the Ferry Plaza drew up the plans for Pier ½.

Another important and welcome change will be to split the two floats that make up Pier ½ so that one is moved closer to the North side of the Ferry Building (near the present location, but snug-up to the Ferry Building) and the other is on the South side (near Sinbads restaurant).

The reason for this change is that in the current set-up ferryboats coming to or from the North Bay must cross tracks with ferryboats coming to or from the East Bay. Besides presenting a potential safety problem this has the effect of slowing service as the boats must waste time maneuvering to stay clear of each other. To eliminate the problem, Alameda/Oakland and Harbor Bay service will be relocated to the float near Sinbads on the South side of the building.

When all this is done, what is now known as Pier ½ will be re-dubbed the "North Terminal" in a sensible move to reduce confusion.

And while the budget did not permit installing ramps that are the equal of the Golden Gate Ferry setup, larger, lighter and easier-to-handle ramps are in store for the new and improved Pier ½. The result will be safer worker conditions for ferry workers and, because the new ramps will be significantly larger, faster loading and unloading of boats. "While not the final solution – that would be the Golden Gate Ferry loading system – I’m grateful to the Port of San Francisco for the ramp improvements going in at Pier ½", says Marina Secchitano, Regional Director of the Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific. 

"It’s a big step forward and everyone on the boats, workers and riders alike, is going to benefit".

Looking ahead, when renovations to the Ferry Building are complete, the Golden Gate Ferry terminal will be linked with Pier ½ via a waterside promenade lined with shops and cafes for ferry riders to enjoy while waiting for their boat.

The current round of improvements will be completed in January of 2001. Bay Crossings plans coverage of the project in the style of how the San Francisco Chronicle followed the construction of Pac Bell Park.

All in all, it really will be like night and day for ferry commuters. And not a moment too soon with more and more talk of expanded ferry services. The front door to San Francisco is about to become something we can all be proud of.