San Francisco's mayor considers demolishing part of I-280

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A routine drive along Interstate 280 in San Francisco could one day be just a memory. City officials, including Mayor Ed Lee, are looking into a plan that would demolish a section of the freeway and create easier rail access to AT&T Park and the proposed Golden State Warriors arena as well as a new neighborhood.

The mayor has met with representatives for transportation agencies including Caltans and Caltrain. But his people insist that the notion that this idea is on the drawing board is not true.

Thousands of commuters use I-280 to get into and out of San Francisco. Now, as part of a regional transportation plan for the growing Mission Bay neighborhood, there is talk of knocking down a portion starting at Mariposa and replacing that section with an underground rail tunnel with a station near AT&T Park and the proposed Warriors arena.

"Before we talk about tearing down anything, we need to figure out what is this neighborhood going to look like, what does it the needs, what are the opportunities, before any discussion of that would even happen," said Lee's spokesperson Christine Falvey. "And that's what's happening right now. We're studying and talking to people and planning for the future."

Falvey says right now all city hall is doing is examining options.

The ambitious proposal to reroute Caltrain and perhaps eliminate the rail yard at 4th and King streets is causing the agency concern.

"Having a location to store trains and maintain them is critical to any rail service," said Jayme Ackemann with Caltrain. "And we need to understand, clearly, not just how a plan like this would impact operations but what it would mean for our employees and what it would mean for our customers."

The mayor's office says nothing would be done without public input and at this point, there is no money.