official endorsement of the Fillmore Street Tunnel proposal while awaiting the results of consultant Bion J. Arnold's study; Arnold declared his support in March 1912 via telegram. Later that month, the City Attorney determined that rail service could be provided through the tunnel as an alternative to the existing surface streetcar franchise granted to the United Railroads of San Francisco (URR) on Fillmore; URR service was via the 23-line (Fillmore-Valencia) up the south side of Fillmore to Broadway, connecting to the Fillmore Counterbalance funicular on the steep north side down to Green on the Bay waterfront. Arnold followed up with a written report in April 1912 with a more detailed design and a cost estimate of $1.7–1.8 million, depending on configuration. Funding for the tunnel became an issue. Special assessment districts were established to cover the areas at the north and south ends of the tunnel, keeping with precedent established for the contemporary Twin Peaks and Stockton Street Tunnels. Property owners within these districts would be responsible to pay an extra land value tax based on property size; in return, the tunnel was expected to increase the assessed value of the property in the assessment districts after completion. The fairgrounds for PPIE were in the northern special assessment district, but the land had been leased, and the PPIE Company could not agree on a plan to share the cost of the special property tax with the owners. In April 1912, the PPIE Company declined a tunnel assessment cost-sharing proposal, stating their budget was reserved for construction of buildings and grounds for the Exposition. The northern assessment district for the Fillmore Tunnel was projected to overlap with a western assessment district for a planned Broadway Tunnel, which would have caused some property owners to pay for two tunnels. The competing Devisadero Street Improvement Association also filed a protest over their inclusion in the special assessment district, stating they would receive no benefit and promoting their alignment instead. Residents of Harbor View also opposed further industrial development of their neighborhood. By September 1912, the preliminary engineering design was complete and legal work began to acquire the properties needed to widen Fillmore at the north and south portals. In December, the San Francisco Call reported that plans for the Fillmore Street Tunnel were almost completed, and estimated that construction would begin the following Spring; according to City Engineer M.M. O'Shaughnessy, the tunnel would