BART to build canopies over San Francisco Market Street entrances
The BART Board of Directors approved a contract to construct 22 canopies over entrances at BART stations along Market St. in downtown San Francisco.
Two canopies that were completed in November 2018 have proven to be successful in closing the entrances when BART is not open for service, addressing security and maintenance concerns and ensuring that employees who open the entrances are safer.
Each canopy includes a real-time digital display that shows train arrival times, a retractable gate, LED lighting and security cameras.
Construction will begin Spring 2020. The entire project will take 7 years because no more than one entrance will be under construction at each station at one time in order to reduce access impacts to stations.
The contract approved by the Board includes purchasing and installing 19 canopies for $64 million as the base and includes options for 3 additional canopies one funding is identified. The plan also includes incorporating local art into the ceiling surface material. The project to install canopies is funded by voter approved Measure RR funds, San Francisco Prop A funds, and state Prop 1A funds.
Canopies will protect new modern escalators
The canopy project is in conjunction with the Market Street Escalators Renovation Project. That project, approved in March 2019, will install and replace 41 escalators at Embarcadero, Montgomery St., Powell St., and Civic Center stations. Twenty-two of the escalators that will be replaced extend from the street to the concourse levels of the stations while 18 connect concourses with station platforms.
The canopies will not only protect the new escalators from the wear-and-tear of elements like rain and wind-swept debris, but they will provide an added layer of station security and cleanliness through motorized gates that allow the entrances to be locked at street level when stations are closed.
The added protection from the existing canopy in Oakland has reduced escalator down time by about 30%.