An escalator along a stop of the Bay Area Rapid Transit, known as BART, in San Francisco, California was shutdown for weeks after workers believed they could not finish repairs because they thought pigeons were a protected bird.
BART said an escalator fix at its 24th/Mission Station was delayed for over a month because pigeons had nested inside of the escalator.
A San Francisco commuter tweeted Monday at BART asking them why the escalator reopening was delayed.
Can you shed any light @SFBART?
24th St escalators were due to be reopened on Friday and now it’s been pushed out a month. It’s been closed for nearly 6 months now and for some reason the northern 24th St entry is also blocked. What’s the hold up? Can we reopen that entry please?— Megan G (@_meglet) July 22, 2019
The metro authority responded saying the pigeon nests had kept them from moving forward with the reopening of the escalator.
“During repairs on the 24th St Mission escalator, a pigeon set up a nest by the escalator and laid two eggs. By federal law, we can’t disturb an active nest and monitored the nest every day. Last week, the two hatchlings and momma pigeon flew away and we’re moving forward again,” the agency said.
During repairs on the 24th St Mission escalator, a pigeon set up a nest by the escalator and laid two eggs. By federal law, we can’t disturb an active nest and monitored the nest every day. Last week, the two hatchlings and momma pigeon flew away and we’re moving forward again. https://t.co/hPytXCRNso pic.twitter.com/O2olXufa00
— SFBART (@SFBART) July 22, 2019
While BART initially claimed the birds were protected under federal law, there is no such federal protection under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, leaving it unclear as to what regulation the agency was referencing.
“Crews told us they had to stop work because of the nest,” Alicia Trost, BART spokeswoman, told KQED News. “We will inquire about which laws prompted this.”
San Francisco has a history of escalators breaking down, including a 2012 incident in which a hazardous-materials team was called in to clean up an escalator shutdown due to large amounts of human waste inside of it.
