North Berkeley is an underground

Bay Area Rapid Transit Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes on of rapid transit lines, including a spur line in eastern Contra Costa County which u ...

station located on Sacramento Street in the North Berkeley region of

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

. The station is bounded by Virginia, Sacramento, Delaware, and Acton streets in a residential area north of University Avenue. The main station entrance sits within a circular building at the center of a

parking lot A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...

, while an

elevator An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They ...

between the surface and the platform is located at the parking lot's Sacramento Street edge.

History

The site was originally an open area across which the

Key System The Key System (or Key Route) was a privately owned company that provided mass transit in the cities of Oakland, California, Oakland, Berkeley, California, Berkeley, Alameda, California, Alameda, Emeryville, California, Emeryville, Piedmont, Ca ...

constructed its Westbrae streetcar line, subsequently given the letter designation "G". The tracks ran diagonally across the property in virtually the same alignment as today's underground BART tracks. Homes began to be constructed along the periphery of the site, and after the G-Westbrae line was closed in 1941, filled in most of the rest of it. All of these were demolished in the 1960s to make way for construction of the North Berkeley station. Service at the station began on January 29, 1973. Pursuant to a law passed by the state of California in 2018, the City of Berkeley and BART are beginning to plan the development of transit-oriented housing on the station parking lot, with a deadline for zoning due to the district in 2020. The station site is only partially suited for housing due to the presence of the tracks and station box underneath. The Berkeley City Council approved a memorandum of understanding with BART in December 2019. The elevator to the platform is outside of the

paid area In rail transport, the paid area is a dedicated "inner" zone in a railway station or metro station, accessible via turnstiles or other barriers, to get into which, visitors or passengers require a valid ticket, checked smartcard or a pass. A sys ...

. BART plans to add a dedicated faregate for the elevator in 2022.

References

External links

BART - North Berkeley
Bay Area Rapid Transit stations in Alameda County, California Stations on the Berryessa/North San José–Richmond line Stations on the Richmond–Millbrae+SFO line Buildings and structures in Berkeley, California Railway stations in the United States opened in 1973 Bay Area Rapid Transit stations located underground {{AlamedaCountyCA-railstation-stub

History

See also

References

External links