SCVTA completes Warren Avenue grade separation

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority's (SCVTA) Warren Avenue grade separation project is now complete and will be open to traffic beginning August 11. This is just one of many projects that will make way for the SCVTA Bay Area Rapid Transportation (BART) Silicon Valley Berryessa Extension.

 

In June 2013, Warren Avenue was closed to construct a grade-separation of the roadway from future BART service and the existing freight railroad. Warren Avenue now trenches under the new street-level bridges that were constructed for both railroads, greatly enhancing safety by separating train traffic from pedestrian and auto traffic. A new pedestrian sidewalk on the south side of Warren Avenue (to be opened later) and striped bike lanes will also provide added safety. Additional lane widening on Mission Boulevard and new on and off ramps from Kato Road to Mission Boulevard will be completed later this fall.

“The closure of Warren Avenue played a major role in allowing SCVTA to make the necessary roadway improvements for connections to future BART service in Silicon Valley. Improvements to separate automobile traffic will help reduce traffic and enhance safety specifically for cyclists and pedestrians, a major win to Fremont residents and businesses for years to come,” said Bill Harrison, Mayor of the city of Fremont. “Thanks to the patience of our community, BART can now go all the way through our city and complete Fremont’s role as a destination for our neighbors to the north and south.”

SCVTA said the opening of Warren Avenue falls in a succession of milestones already achieved thus far on the largest infrastructure improvement in the authority and Silicon Valley history. To date, SCVTA has relocated all Union Pacific tracks from future BART operating corridor; completed the Kato Road Grade Separation in Fremont and made significant progress at both the Berryessa and Milpitas stations. At the August SCVTA Board of Directors meeting, a contract award is up for approval for the design and construction of the parking structures planned at the two future BART stations in the amount of $86.8 million, the second largest contract to be awarded on this rail infrastructure project.

The initial planned completion for the Silicon Valley Berryessa Extension was 2018, but due to projected schedule and budget savings as a result of the design-build delivery method, passenger service is anticipated by late 2017.

 

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