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Relocation of utility lines associated with the Central Subway tunnel construction project will begin on Aug. 13, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) officials announced yesterday.

The work involves relocating utility lines on a half-block section of Columbus Avenue between Union and Powell streets in San Francisco as part of the pre-construction phase of the Central Subway tunnel.

The tunnel is planned to extend past the last station in Chinatown to North Beach. When tunneling is completed, the tunnel boring machines will be removed from the ground on Columbus Avenue. Work is expected to take about four months.

Construction of a tunnel boring machine retrieval shaft is planned to begin in early 2013 and continue for about 10 months.

The Central Subway project will extend the T Third Line from the 4th Street Caltrain Station to Chinatown, providing a direct, rapid transit link from the Bayshore and Mission Bay areas to SoMa and downtown. Four new stations will be built along the 1.7-mile alignment.

The Central Subway project is the second phase of the SFMTA’s Third Street Light-Rail project.