El Cerrito del Norte station (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

for "The Little Hill of the North") is a

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 and of track, including eBART, a spur line running to Antioch, and Oakland Airport Connecto ...

(BART)

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

located on

Cutting Boulevard Cutting Boulevard is a major east–west arterial trunk road in the city of Richmond, California. History It is named after Henry Cutting, the founder of the Port of Richmond. It begins in the historic neighborhood of Point Richmond, Richmond, ...

El Cerrito, California El Cerrito (Spanish language, Spanish for "The Little Hill") is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, and forms part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It has a population of 25,962 according to the 2020 United States census, 2 ...

. The station is served by the

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

and

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

lines. Located near San Pablo Avenue and

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

, it serves as a regional transit hub for local

AC Transit AC Transit is the main Public transport bus service, bus transit operator in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. AC Transit is the third largest bus operator in California, serving the western portions of Alameda and C ...

bus services, and for commuter feeder services from Solano, Napa, and Marin Counties in the North Bay plus western

Contra Costa County Contra Costa County (; ''Contra Costa'', Spanish language, Spanish for 'Opposite Coast') is a U.S. county, county located in the U.S. state of California, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the ...

. Opened in 1973, the station was renovated in 2017–2021 to add additional elevators, stairs, and lobby space. The station features large parking areas throughout, including surface parking and a four-story parking garage on the east side. There are also reserved bicycle lockers and open air racks available. There is a

kiss and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail transport, r ...

and taxi zone on the east side of the station. The

Ohlone Greenway The Ohlone Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle path in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The path is named for the Native Americans in the United States, Native American Ohlone, who live in th ...

runs through the station area.

History

The BART Board approved the name "El Cerrito del Norte" in December 1965. El Cerrito del Norte station opened on January 29, 1973 when service began between MacArthur station and Richmond station. As with El Cerrito Plaza station, the escalator walls feature tile mosaics by Alfonso Pardiñas.

Seismic retrofitting Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes (or generally, quakes) and the generation and propagation of elastic w ...

of the parking garage took place in 2010. A 2004 study recommending expanding the station paid area, platforms, and vertical logistics (more stairs and elevators within the paid area) to allow more passengers to use the station and decrease dwelling times during congested alighting times. Conceptual plans for modernization of the two El Cerrito stations were released in December 2013. By 2017 the station had more than 9,000 passengers boarding per weekday, exceeding its design capacity. BART awarded the construction contract for the $33.9 million station expansion that February, with an expected completion in May 2019. The expanded paid area, new elevators and stairs, and updated bus boarding area were completed in February 2021. The second phase of the renovation, which included new restrooms and a new busway, was completed on March 29, 2021. It also included the installation of ''El Cerrito Homes'', two porcelain tile murals by artist Kyungmi Shin. BART developed a station improvement plan in 2004 to create a

transit village A transit village is a pedestrian-friendly mixed-use district or neighborhood oriented around the station of a high-quality transit system, such as rail or B.R.T. Often a civic square of public space abuts the train station, functioning as the ...

in the surrounding area. The city of El Cerrito is additionally planning and searching for funds to develop the area around the station as a

transit oriented development In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of urban development that maximizes the amount of residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport. It promotes a symbiotic relationship between ...

(TOD) similar to other transit villages,El Cerrito del Norte station access plan
, BART, retrieved August 9, 2007 with the reservation that the development must be appropriately scaled. An apartment complex to be built on a former parking area was approved in 2017. , BART anticipates soliciting developer proposals by 2028.

Bus connections

El Cerrito del Norte station serves as the primary northern bus terminal for the Richmond branch due to its proximity to I-80 (compared to the Richmond BART station). A two-lane busway on the west side of the station, plus additional stops on San Pablo Avenue and on the east side of the station, as are used by five public transit agencies.

provides both local and express service, while the other agencies provide commuter-oriented express service from western Contra Costa County, Marin County, Napa County, and Solano County. *AC Transit: 7, 72, 72M, 72R, 76, 376, 667,

800 __NOTOC__ Year 800 ( DCCC) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar, the 800th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 800th year of the 1st millennium, the 100th and last year of the 8th century, a ...

, L *

Golden Gate Transit Golden Gate Transit (GGT) is a public transportation system serving the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in California, United States. It primarily serves Marin County, Sonoma County, and San Francisco, and also provides limited ser ...

: 580, 580X, 704 * Napa VINE: 29 * SolanoExpress (

SolTrans SolTrans, officially Solano County Transit, is a joint powers authority that provides public transportation service to the southern Solano County cities of Vallejo and Benicia, California, United States. SolTrans was established in 2011 and i ...

): Red Line, Green Line *

WestCAT WestCAT is a public transportation service in western Contra Costa County (north of Alameda County, California, Alameda County). It is a service of the Western Contra Costa Transit Authority. Contra Costa County has four public bus transportation ...

: JL, JPX, JR, JX

Flixbus FlixBus (; styled FLiXBUS) is a German brand that offers low-cost Intercity bus service, intercity coach services in Europe, North America, South America and Asia. It is owned by , which also operates FlixTrain, FlixCar, , and Greyhound Lines. F ...

intercity bus service and a

California Department of Public Health The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is the state department responsible for public health in California. It is a subdivision of the California Health and Human Services Agency. It enforces some of the laws in the California Health ...

employee shuttle also serve the station.

References

External links

BART - El Cerrito del Norte StationBART - El Cerrito del Norte Station Modernization
{{Bay Area Rail Stations Bay Area Rapid Transit stations in Contra Costa County, California Stations on the Orange Line (BART) Stations on the Red Line (BART) Brutalist architecture in California El Cerrito, California Railway stations in the United States opened in 1973 Bus stations in Contra Costa County, California