As a part of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Contra Costa County Crossover Project, crews will be closing the tracks between Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill for the following two weekends:
- March 26-28, 2010 – 9 pm Friday night to 1:30 am Monday morning
- May 28-31, 2010 (Memorial Day weekend) – 7 pm Friday night to about 1:30 am Tuesday morning
During these weekends, The County Connection will provide free bus bridge service between the Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek BART stations.
Buses will run in both directions as follows:
- Friday, May 28 – 7:00 PM to 2:00 AM
- Saturday, May 29 – 6:00 AM to 2:00 AM
- Sunday & Monday, May 30/31 – 8:00 AM to 2:00 AM
- Tuesday AM Contingency Plan – 4:00 AM to 6:00 AM
County Connection and BART personnel will be present at both stations to assist passengers. For more information about Bus Bridge service, please call County Connection at (925) 676-7500 or visit www.cccta.org.
BART has asked riders to allow up to 30 additional minutes for the bus detour, although measures will be taken to ensure that every train is met by a bus.
Instructions for boarding the buses:
Follow signs to the Bus Bridge stop directly outside BART station. Look for County Connection buses (tan and white or white) with “BART Bus Bridge” signage. Keep your BART ticket to display at all times, as you will need it to enter and exit stations and to board the bus. Normal BART service will resume at 4AM on the final morning of the installation.
From the Contra Costa County Crossover Project website:
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.
Suggested benefits of the project include:
- Increased train frequency and reduced wait times
- Additional seating capacity during peak hours
- Reduced system delays
- Improved maintenance and allocation of resources
For more information, please visit the official Contra Costa County Crossover Project website and read the following BART news releases on the project:
