Committee for Re-Evaluation of the T-Line Loop v. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency

In 2014, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (Muni) approved a contract to install the last 900 feet of light rail line needed to complete a partially constructed “T-Line Loop” (Loop) around a city block in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco. The Loop—bounded by Third, Illinois, 18th and 19th Streets—will allow trains on the T-Third light rail line to turn around to meet service needs for special events and peak travel periods. Track for the Loop on Third Street was laid more than 10 years ago, and operates as part of the T-Third line; spur track was laid on most of 18th and 19th Streets between Third and Illinois when the T-Third line was constructed. In approving the 2014 contract, Muni authorized the construction of light rail line on Illinois Street and parts of 18th and 19th Streets to connect the existing spurs.

Plaintiffs filed suit to stop construction of the Loop, claiming that Muni failed to comply with CEQA. When Muni’s board of directors approved the contract to complete the Loop, it relied in part on an environmental impact report that was certified in 1998 (the LEIR, discussed further below) in connection with plans to connect the…