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THE ROUTE In 2004, planners adopted an alignment promoted by Rescue Muni , a watchdog group. The revised routing will have trains enter and exit the tunnel via a joint portal on Fourth Street (under an earlier plan, the line would have been split into Third and Fourth segments). The route will then continue under Fourth Street through the South Of Market district to Market Street , where it will connect to Muni Metro and BART . The new alignment will eliminate sharp turns, avoiding delays and supposedly save Muni more than $100 million. But, due to the cost of tunneling far below the BART station, the cost of construction would be about the same as the original plan down Third Street. The Central Subway's current status is finding alternative routes to decrease the cost of construction. Currently, one of the preferred alternatives is to have the subway portal near Bryant Street, have the stations much smaller than planned, and to get rid of the connection to the Market Street subway near Union Square. Surface light rail on Fourth and Stockton Streets were proposed, and same with a route that goes via the Embarcadero (on the N Judah tracks), and onto Washington Street, then a right turn onto Columbus. New underground stations will be built at the Moscone Center near Fourth and Folsom streets in SOMA, Stockton and O'Farrell streets near Union Square (connected to the Market Street subway at Powell Street Station by a pedestrian tunnel), and in Chinatown at Stockton and Clay streets. There are no plans to extend the subway further north to North Beach and Fisherman's Wharf , but the station at Stockton and Clay will be built to allow a possible future extension. A Muni Metro line may eventually be built along Geary or Post streets, and if so, it might connect to the Central Subway at Union Square. COST Due to the capital cost ($1.2 billion for the 1.7 mile light rail line), the Central Subway project has come under criticism from transit activists for what they consider to be poor cost-effectiveness. In particular, they note:
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