Balboa Park BART to get a renovation
Not sure if it’s the “jewel in BART’s crown” as described by the spokeswoman, but there’s no question that Balboa Park station is one of the most heavily used and most in need of improvement in the system. In particular, riders who transfer from BART to Muni Metro and vice versa today face a very confusing and sometimes dangerous street layout where there should be an easy-to-navigate transfer station.
It’s not clear from the proposal (click on “Balboa Park” links, all pdf) which improvements for Muni are included, but there’s no doubt that proposals for easier access J, K, and M platforms as well as pedestrian safety improvements are badly needed. We’ll keep an eye on this project after groundbreaking this Friday.
Transit, housing, safety….that’s nice, but the jewel in BART’s crown ought to be Powell.
Yes, because of the tourists. (the ones lucky enough to find out about BART while still at the airport before being directed to “the door” and into a cab)
And because it’s the number one place to convert a driver or cab rider into a transit user.
Jewel in BART’s crown…
…the way it’s treated now, Powell is “change in BART’s cup”.
About bleeping time. Step one TURN the stairways within fare control so they face the faregates! Even with the “discourage BART usage” pass price hike, Balboa will remain in the top ten stations by ridership. The current layout would be a failure in any dercent architecture school. Much as the housing/retail would be useful, fixing the transit mistakes is critical. Muni should design for both thru J and terminating J, M, because travel patterns will shift before there more money to do it over again. Until the Ocean Ave entry/exit is up and running the TEP plan of rerouting the 54 to Oceanshould be cancelled.