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Dublin walkway to long-isolated new West BART station now in place
Pleasanton side next in mid-July as station readies for opening at year's end

by Jeb Bing

Crews have installed the first of two pedestrian walkways at the new West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station in the middle of I-580 near the interchange of Foothill/San Ramon roads.

The work marked the final phase of the station's construction, with BART and Caltrans expected to approve the work and to open the station to riders at the end of the year or in early 2011.

Overnight, traffic was detoured from the Dougherty Road off-ramp to Dublin Boulevard as the steel walkway was lifted into place from the shoulders of the freeway.

Although the steel pedestrian pathways were manufactured and ready two years ago, a year ago, Caltrans, which has oversight for the project, determined that the welds didn't meet the proper safety requirements and could not be repaired. The state transportation agency's standards were different than BART's, which provided the contract specifications.

A BART spokesperson said at the time that it didn't appear the weldings were unsafe, but the agency differed to Caltrans requirement that they be rebuilt, with an additional $2.5 million added to the total cost due to welding problems.

Installation of the pedestrian walkway on the Pleasanton side will take place over two weekends--July 10-11 and again on July 17-18--with eastbound lanes affected at Foothill Road, where they will be directed to Stoneridge Drive to the northbound I-680 ramp and then back onto I-580, according to Allyn Amsk, public information officer for Caltrans.