Parking, public access and safety lead the list of priorities the public noted for consideration for the development of an eBART station in Pittsburg. About five-dozen people attended a workshop concerning the project Thursday night at the Pittsburg Senior Center.
The workshop was the first opportunity for the public to explain what they would like to see in the area around the proposed station at the intersection of Railroad Avenue and Highway 4.
eBART is a proposed 23-mile BART extension into East Contra Costa County that would run along the median of Highway 4, with endpoint stations in Pittsburg and Byron/Discovery Bay. The general plan the city adopted in 2001 calls for an eBART station at the Railroad Avenue location.
The City Council could approve a specific plan as early as spring. Construction is scheduled to begin next year and the line could be running by 2010. About $250 million in funding for the project was secured in 2004 with the passage of Measures 2 and J.
Those in the planning area — and throughout the city — were sent invitations for the meeting in their water bills. The ideas and feedback they present for the area will help shape different plan alternatives, which will be presented to them for further review at a second public workshop Sept. 21.
Thursday’s attendees first listened to an overview of the project, then broke into smaller groups to share their thoughts. The county and cities along the eBART line are required to help generate ridership at each station.
BART requires 14,055 riders a day along the corridor — an average of 2,342 per station — and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission requires 15,400 units of housing within half a mile of the proposed stations, an average of 2,200 units per stop. Currently there are about 1,600 units in the Pittsburg study area.
The city of Pittsburg wants to create ridership demand with housing, employment and shopping around the station. Two places in the study area identified as most likely to change are around City Hall and in the southeast area of the site, a section the event facilitators noted has vacant, under-used parcels.
About 15,000 people live within the study area, about a quarter of the city’s population. Approximately 5,000 of the city’s jobs are in that area.
Pittsburg resident Tom LaFleur called the workshop a “public relations exercise,” and said the city needed to be more direct about its plans. If businesses in the southeast area could be displaced, he said, “let’s talk about it.”
Radiah Mikel of Pittsburg said she wants to ensure “there is enough parking, so people don’t park on neighborhood streets.”
Her husband, Michael Mikel, added: “I wanted to make sure there was easy access to it.”
Keeping big-picture concerns in mind will be important as plans for the area are discussed in detail with the public, said Chris Beynon of MIG, a consulting firm working with the city on the project.
“I think people have a lot of questions right now,” he said. “This is a big deal, and it could have big impacts on the community, and the community members need to be heard.”
