Warm Springs Extension News

Irvington Station Art Design Development Presentation Now Available - Click here for more information

Irvington Station Final Design: Sustainability

Advancing sustainability is one of the key strategies at BART. Since its inception, BART has led the way by providing a clean energy alternative to reach destinations throughout the Bay Area. Irvington Station presents yet another opportunity to further that legacy. The station will be situated in one of the priority development areas within the City of Fremont, serving as a catalyst for transit-oriented development. Between the Eastbay Greenway and Sabercat Creek regional bicycle and pedestrian trails that will lead directly to Irvington Station, as well as the onsite bus transit center, opportunities will abound for car-free connectivity to the Station.

Irvington Station itself will include a number of sustainability features beginning with its basic architecture. The station will feature a reduced-size concourse which will be very open and take full advantage of natural ventilation and sunlight, thereby reducing energy usage for HVAC and lighting. The station will feature energy efficient equipment such as LED lighting and associated lighting control systems. It will also include provisions for future solar and EV charging stations.

Water is also an important sustainability consideration. The station will feature drought-tolerant landscaping to reduce water usage. In addition, bioretention areas will be strategically placed throughout the station site to treat stormwater by filtering for pollutants before the water enters the storm drain system and ultimately reaches the bay.

Sustainability is also factored into the actual construction of the station. Recycled materials, such as the use of fly ash in concrete, will be utilized where appropriate. In addition, tier-4 (low-emission) engines will be required for construction equipment.

The Irvington design effort is made possible by 2014 Measure BB funding allocated by the Alameda County Transportation Commission, as well as Regional Measure 2 funding provided by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

Irvington Station Design Approaches 90% Completion

The design of Irvington Station continues to progress and is approaching 90% completion. The station architecture continues to be refined as shown in these latest renderings of the concourse and pedestrian bridge. In addition, Rebeca Mendez, the artist that was selected to develop the artwork at Irvington Station, is currently developing a design that will utilize interior and exterior surfaces of the station.

In addition to advancing the Irvington Station design, the Team has also begun preparing the design drawings for the Gallegos site. Located across the street from Irvington Station, the Gallegos site features the remnants of a winery that collapsed during the 1906 earthquake. The Project includes measures intended to preserve and stabilize this historically important cultural resource. An historical architect is providing guidance on appropriate preservation and stabilization efforts. The Gallegos site improvements will also include pedestrian walkways with interpretive panels.

Irvington Station Final Design: Architecture & Art

January 2021 - Since the completion of Preliminary Engineering in the Summer of 2020, the BART Irvington Station Project Team has been making significant progress with Final Design. The Station architecture continues to advance as the Project Team dives deeper into the details. In addition, the concept for the former Gallegos Winery site is being further developed based upon survey data and field investigations that have been performed. The Project Team has worked closely with the City of Fremont and established the following criteria early on to guide the development of the station and Gallegos site:

Ensure design of the station is consistent with the existing environment. Though mindful of the historic character of the Irvington district, provide a state-of-the-art BART station that will harmonize with its surroundings which are dominated by the strong lines, scale and massing of the immediately adjacent Washington Boulevard bridge and elevated Osgood Road. The Station should fit into and serve the community well into the future, consistent with the City’s approved Station Area Plan.
Incorporate the Gallegos Winery site into design of the station project. Pay homage to the past by stabilizing, preserving, interpreting and enhancing pedestrian and bike access to and within the site of the historic Gallegos Winery ruins.
Provide safe and secure, multi-modal and ADA access to the station from all directions.
Reflect best practices for station security, maintenance and constructability.
Provide opportunities for on-site renewable energy generation with rooftop solar and, if possible, energy storage.
Provide opportunities for public art to contribute to a world class customer and community experience.
Enhance the patron experience, including wayfinding, by incorporating preferred practices described in the BART Station Experience Design Guidelines.

The Irvington BART Station Experience

The station experience begins at the three entrances. Located on the east side of the station, the main entrance, shown to the right, serves a small bus transit center and pick-up/drop off area west of Osgood Road. In the background, a second entrance can be seen which is served by a short pedestrian bridge that connects directly to Osgood Road. Bicycle parking will be available at the plaza, as well as in a bike station located on the concourse level.

For those coming from the west near downtown Irvington, the station will be accessed by a pedestrian bridge across the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) track. The west side of the station will feature pick-up/drop-off and bicycle parking as well as a small patron parking lot. The project includes a short extension of the East Bay Greenway from its current terminus near the intersection of High Street and Main Street and will utilize the existing Washington Boulevard overpass to cross the UPRR and BART tracks before heading south along Osgood Road. This extension will provide seamless bicycle and pedestrian access to the station.

Once inside the station, a welcoming, airy concourse awaits. Patrons will be able to purchase or add value to Clipper Cards using ticket vending machines located along the north wall of the station. They will then pass through the next-generation fare gates and enter the paid area of the concourse. To reach the platforms, patrons will descend using one of the three sets of stairs or two elevators serving each platform.

Down at the platform level, BART trains will whisk patrons south to Silicon Valley or north towards San Francisco and Oakland.

Irvington Station Art Program

To further enhance the patron experience, artwork will be incorporated that will help bring the station to life. An artist selection panel, which included representatives from the City of Fremont, BART and members of the Bay Area art community, recently selected Rebeca Mendez as the artist for Irvington Station. Examples of her previous work can be found at https://rebecamendez.com/.

As Rebeca begins to develop concepts for the art, we will need your help. Community engagement meetings will be held that will both provide an opportunity to meet Rebeca and to share feedback on what makes Irvington, and Fremont in general, a special place to live and work. This input will be invaluable to help ensure art that is meaningful to the community. Due to COVID concerns, these community engagement meetings will likely be held virtually. Announcements for the meetings will be posted on this website, as well as on the City of Fremont website.

Irvington Station Preliminary Engineering Completed

Updated August 6, 2020 - The BART Irvington Station Project Team, which includes several consulting firms led by PGH Wong Engineering, has spent the last year performing Preliminary Engineering for the Irvington Station. Utilizing the updated Irvington Station Site Plan approved by the BART Board in August 2019 as a starting point, the initial phase of this effort was largely aimed at site reconnaissance, including soil sampling and surveying. Simultaneously, the Project Team coordinated with nearly every department within BART, and gathered input from external stakeholders such as the City of Fremont and the BART Bicycle Task Force to help inform the design with respect to function, patron experience, and integration with the surrounding neighborhood. After compiling the information gathered, the Project Team formulated a basis of design and began developing the station architecture, with the ultimate goal being a compact yet inviting station that will compliment instead of dominate its surroundings.

The next phase of the Preliminary Engineering effort was to develop a set of 30% design plans. The set includes preliminary architectural, structural and civil design drawings, as well as preliminary drawings for all the electrical, communication and other systems necessary for a functional station. Since the Irvington Station Station Preliminary Engineering Completedbe built around operating BART tracks, detailed construction staging plans were also prepared to help ensure a constructible design.

With Preliminary Engineering now complete, the Project Team is beginning Final Design. During this stage, the design will be further refined and details developed, reflecting ongoing input from our stakeholders. One or more artists will also be engaged, and the public will be given an opportunity to meet them and share insight on what makes the Irvington community, and Fremont in general, a special place to live and work. Final design is anticipated to take approximately two years.

BART Board Adopts Addendum to the Warm Springs Extension Project FSEIR and Modifications to the Irvington Station

On August 22, 2019, the BART Board voted to adopt Addendum 2 to the BART Warm Springs Extension Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (FSEIR) and the associated updated Irvington Station conceptual site plan shown below. These updates were generated to reflect the latest BART policies, priorities and requirements, as well as feedback received from the community. The end result is a more compact, neighborhood-friendly station than what was previously adopted in 2003. Among the most notable changes are the following:

The station footprint was reduced by almost 50% from 25.9 acres to 13.1 acres.
The amount of parking was reduced by almost 75% from 960 spaces to approximately 250 spaces to address the community’s concerns regarding increased traffic on local streets. The large parking lot originally planned east of Osgood Rd. was eliminated entirely.
The pedestrian bridge originally planned to cross Osgood Rd. was eliminated since the parking east of Osgood Rd. was eliminated.
A pedestrian bridge from the station concourse to Osgood Rd was strongly supported by the community and, therefore, added to help facilitate walking and biking to the station from adjacent neighborhoods.

In addition, the updated conceptual site plan included the integration with the East Bay Greenway, a trail currently being developed that will eventually run from northern to southern Alameda County. By allowing the Eastbay Greenway to run through the station site, pedestrian and cyclist access to the station is significantly enhanced.

To address environmental mitigation measures first described in the Warm Springs Extension FSEIR, the project will undertake efforts intended to preserve and interpret the Gallegos Winery ruins located at the southeast corner of Osgood Rd. and Washington Blvd. Pedestrian walkways, interpretive panels, landscaping plantings and bench seating will also be added at various locations, so that following the transfer of title from BART to the City, the site would be suitable for adoption as a passive park in recognition of this fascinating piece of Fremont history.

In a related effort to the station site plan update, a Station Area Plan was also developed that describes connectivity from adjacent neighborhoods to the station as well as the vision for the area surrounding the station. The Station Area Plan was approved by the City of Fremont City Council on July 16, 2019. A link to the Station Area Plan can be found here.

The updated conceptual site plan, its environmental analysis per the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Station Area Plan, as well the preliminary engineering work currently underway have all been made possible through 2014 Measure BB funding that has been allocated by the Alameda County Transportation Commission (Alameda CTC).

A link to Addendum 2 of the Warm Springs Extension FSEIR can be found here.

For addition information, visit the Warm Springs Extension Project Overview or the City of Fremont's website.