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Project Background
The Concord line opened for transbay service in 1974 and provided service between the Concord Station and the Daly City Station. In 1996 the Concord Line was expanded with the addition of three new BART stations: North Concord/Martinez and Pittsburg/Bay Point in Contra Costa County and the Colma Station on the peninsula in San Mateo County. In 2003, the San Francisco International Airport Extension was completed adding four more stations to the BART system: South San Francisco, San Bruno, San Francisco International Airport, and Millbrae.
Because the Pittsburg/Bay Point – Daly City line is so heavily traveled, problems with disabled trains can cause delays that affect the entire system. BART has studied a range of potential improvements to the Pittsburg/Bay Point – Daly City line to increase reliability and efficiency.
In October 2002, the BART District completed the Pleasant Hill/Richmond Crossover Study, which evaluated the impacts to the BART system of adding two new crossover tracks between the Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek Stations. The study identified benefits from the new crossovers, which include:
- Additional seating capacity during peak hours.
- Increased reliability of service in the Walnut Creek-Pleasant Hill area.
- Additional flexibility in operational and delay management.
- Improved maintenance capacity.
The project – formally known as the Central Contra Costa County Crossover Project – completed its environmental review and was adopted by the BART Board of Directors in March 2006. Click here for information about the environmental process.
Project Purpose
The purpose of the Crossover project is to add special trackwork between the Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill Stations to allow a train to cross from one track to the other track. The original BART system track plan provided two parallel trackways between the Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill Stations. Currently, the closest existing crossovers to the project site are near the Lafayette Station and between the Pleasant Hill Station and the Concord Yard. This deficiency reduces operational flexibility during a train failure. It also requires BART to turn back trains at Concord Station instead of the desired location at Pleasant Hill.
Project Benefits
Increased train frequency and reduced wait times – Current train operating plans require most Concord Line trains to proceed all the way to Pittsburg/Bay Point Station, but as many as six peak period trains terminate their runs at the Concord Station. This is known as “short-turning.” Short-turn trains provide increased seating capacity for Oakland-San Francisco bound passengers in the Walnut Creek-Pleasant Hill area, rather than having trains continue all the way to Pittsburg-Bay Point with decreasing passenger loads. This project will allow the short turn of trains at Pleasant Hill.
Additional seating capacity during peak hours – A new crossover south of the Pleasant Hill Station would enable trains to cross from the northbound to the southbound trackway and reverse at the station platform, as opposed to continuing on into to the Concord Station. This would reduce peak car requirements by freeing up a 10-car train that would otherwise be needed to keep the schedule. The train saved can be redeployed to increase peak service.
Reduced system delays – A major benefit of the Crossover project is in delay recovery during daily service. Currently, if a train is disabled between the Walnut Creek Station and the Pleasant Hill Station, there is no efficient way to reroute following trains around the disabled vehicles. By providing a potential short pathway around a disabled train, the crossovers will enable BART to quickly route trains around the failed train, thus minimizing delay to passengers and speeding the system’s return to normal service.
Improved maintenance and allocation of resources – More short-turn trains result in fewer car hours and car miles, and reduce operating costs and wear-and-tear on BART vehicles. Additionally, the crossovers will improve maintenance access to the system by increasing single-tracking capability.
Project Location
The Central Contra Costa County Crossover project is located on a portion of the BART alignment between the Pleasant Hill Station and the Walnut Creek Station, adjacent to Interstate 680 (I-680) and slightly southeast of the Interstate 680-Geary Road/Treat Boulevard interchange. This location is within the City of Walnut Creek and a portion is adjacent to a small, unincorporated portion of Contra Costa County.
The project site is bound by I-680 and the City of Walnut Creek’s corporation yard to the west, Jones Road to the east, Treat Boulevard to the north, and Parkside Drive to the south.
BART Central Contra Costa County Crossover project area.
Project Schedule Milestones
BART anticipates the following project timeline:
- Preliminary engineering completed December 2005
- Environmental assessment completed March 2006
- Final Design completion May 2008
- Advertisement of Construction Contract July 2008
- Notice to Proceed with Construction August 2009
- Construction complete estimated December 2010
Funding
Regional Measure 2 will provide $25 million for the Central Contra Costa Crossover Project. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) disperses the funds on a per phase basis. BART also applied $13 million from funds received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to the project. The project has been broken into four phases for funding:
- Phase 1: Environment Study and Preliminary Engineering $1.23M
- Phase 2: Final Design Plans and Specifications $2.92M
- Phase 3: Right-of-Way (Encroachment fees, lay down area) $0.5M
- Phase 4: Construction $33.35M
Total $38.0M
Last Updated: February 16, 2010
