New Improvements Debut at Balboa Park Station

Today, BART, Muni, SFCTA, MTC and federal partners celebrated the completion of major upgrades to the city’s Balboa Park Station. The ribbon-cutting ceremony marked a collaborative effort to provide safer and more seamless connections for regional public transportation riders. This is a project that has been a decade in the making, from concept to planning to design and construction. The Balboa Park Station Eastside Connection Project makes it more convenient to make connections between BART, Muni trains and buses at one of the region’s most heavily used transit hubs.

For Muni riders, the project involved building a new accessible boarding platform on the east side of the BART Station. This means riders no longer have to wait on a narrow strip of pavement just inches away from moving Muni trains. Now, riders will have access to a safe, elevated boarding platform that connects with a new eastside walkway leading to an additional mid-station entrance near the ticket vending machines. The platform also connects to a pedestrian bridge crossing over the BART tracks to the west side of the station.

The improvements include a newly covered headhouse, lighting improvements, wayfinding signage, real-time displays and the addition of a mid-station entrance. Crews began work on the $18.7 million package of improvements in May 2016. More projects are underway to produce and maintain easily accessible, vibrant, transit-friendly communities.