MTC Commissioners Help Break Ground on Big BART Extension

The largest single public infrastructure project ever constructed in Santa Clara County, the Valley Transportation Authority's BART Silicon Valley Phase II, broke ground Friday.

The work will extend BART service 6 miles from the Berryessa Transit Center into downtown San José, ending in the City of Santa Clara. VTA built the first phase of the extension from Fremont to North San Jose’s Berryessa neighborhood, which opened in June 2020.

MTC secured and contributed $779.7 million for Phase II through Regional Measure 3 ($375 million), the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program ($375 million) and the State Transportation Improvement Program ($29.7 million.)

"MTC fights regionally for us to make sure we are getting resources," said Santa Clara County Supervisor, VTA Chair and MTC Commissioner Cindy Chavez at the groundbreaking. "Very recently we needed — in the toughest budget time — to get $375 million from the state of California and it would have been so easy for that to have been traded off for someone else's needs in our region. (MTC Commissioner) Jim Spering and (MTC Chair) Alfredo Pedroza fought to make sure the money came here." 

VTA estimates the project will cost $12.7 billion with a plan to begin service in March 2039. The section is expected to carry 55,000 weekday riders in 2040.

The Phase II project will include three stations with underground platforms (28th Street/Little Portugal, Downtown San José, and Diridon), one ground-level station (Santa Clara), train maintenance and storage buildings, and additional facilities.

"To create opportunity for everyone, we need to be connected," said San Jose Mayor and MTC Commissioner Matt Mahan at the event. "Working to ring the Bay with rail isn't about the sacrifice we make today, it's about the opportunity we create tomorrow. We are here today to break ground on opportunity." 

Project Benefits

• Ringing the Bay: Creates a one seat ride from San José and Santa Clara to destinations all around the Bay Area through frequent and reliable transit.
• A faster ride: Skip traffic lights and congestion by hopping on BART.
• Economic vitality: In addition to jobs created during engineering and construction, Phase II will connect communities to thousands of jobs around the Bay.
• Reducing construction impacts: The innovative single-bore method will minimize street level impacts and business interruption to the extent possible.  
• Spurring Transit Oriented Communities: Opportunities to create equitable and walkable places to live, work, shop, and enjoy entertainment through compact, mixed-use development around transit.
• Cleaner air: With improved transit and transit oriented communities, there is less need to drive. Fewer auto trips means reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.