DUI crash shuts down Powell Street cable car turnaround, suspect arrested

A suspected drunk driver turned one of San Francisco’s most photographed transit stops into a crime scene Wednesday night, damaging the Powell Street cable car turnaround and forcing the city to halt normal operations at the downtown landmark.

Police responded at about 8:29 p.m. to the 100 block of Cyril Magnin Street after reports of a crash in the restricted turnaround area, according to the San Francisco Police Department. Officers later found a 47-year-old Oakland man near Cyril Magnin and Ellis streets after he fled on foot. He was booked into San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of driving under the influence, hit and run, and unlawfully disobeying a traffic sign.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency said the driver entered the restricted space at the Powell cable car turnaround and damaged both the turnaround signal and a protective concrete barrier. No injuries were reported, but the impact immediately affected service at a place where visitors often wait as long as an hour to board.

The agency said the Hyde and Mason cable car lines could keep running between Fisherman’s Wharf and Washington Street, but they could not pass through the downtown turnaround until the signal was repaired. Service was later restored after repairs were completed. The episode showed how quickly a single reckless act can ripple through a transit system that is both a daily necessity and one of the city’s biggest tourist draws.

The Powell turnaround sits at the center of a corridor the city has spent years trying to lift. In 2024, San Francisco announced a $6 million plan to refresh Powell Street between the cable-car turnaround and Union Square, calling the stretch between Market and Geary a critical entry corridor into the shopping district. That makes the damage more than a transit inconvenience. It struck a signature public asset in the middle of a corridor the city has identified as vital to downtown’s image and foot traffic.

SFMTA oversees all three of San Francisco’s cable car lines, and the Powell-Hyde and Powell-Mason routes share Powell Street. The system is also part of the city’s identity as the last manually operated cable car network in the country. At a site where tourists gather, residents pass through, and downtown depends on smooth service, the crash raised the same question city agencies will have to confront again: whether barriers, signage, and enforcement are strong enough to keep cars out of spaces built for people, not speeding drivers.