Expansion Plans: BART Pledges $2.5 Million for Pittsburg eBART Station

A future BART station in Pittsburg is one step closer to becoming a reality thanks to $2.5 million pledged by the transit agency’s board of directors on Thursday.

The board voted to earmark the funding to help cover the $11.9 million needed to build the Pittsburg Center Station at the intersection of state Highway 4 and Railroad Avenue as part of eBART, the transit agency’s planned 10-mile extension linking the Pittsburg/Bay Point station to a station on Hillcrest Avenue in Antioch.

The $2.5 million will close a funding gap in an agreement with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Contra Costa Transit Authority and the city of Pittsburg, BART officials said.

The MTC and CCTA boards are each expected to vote next month on respective $2.4 million contributions to the project. BART spokesman Jim Allison credited Pittsburg city leaders and residents for their commitment to the Pittsburg Center Station.

The city has promised $3.5 million for the project, which Pittsburg Vice Mayor Pete Longmire said in a statement is envisioned as the hub of a “vibrant, walkable, transit-oriented area at the crossroads of our community.”

Pittsburg Mayor Sal Evola noted that business and property owners located around the future station voted in June to tax themselves to help ensure the station’s construction.

The Pittsburg Center Station has been a concept since the 1990s, but funding for the project wasn’t guaranteed when construction on eBART began in 2010, according to Allison.

The $462 million eBART extension will use smaller, “clean-diesel” trains able to seat 300 to 400 people, according to BART.

Trains are expected to begin service on the extension in 2018.

--Bay City News

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