For years there has been delay after delay for the opening of two South Bay BART stations. But this weekend, the waiting ends.
The San Jose Berryessa and Milpitas stations are set to open for regular service Saturday morning. Just before 8 a.m. a train will leave the Berryessa Station bound for Milpitas and ultimately on to Richmond.
A ribbon-cutting and ceremonial inaugural train ride for dignitaries takes place Friday morning and will be livestreamed for the public.
Santa Clara County voters approved the funding 20 years ago,
and it was 12 years before VTA broke ground.
Some residents are excited, while other people say the system
still needs work.
“I take transit, Uber or Lyft to just get here to make sure
I’m on time to get to work or whatever we are doing,” said Milpitas resident
Dawn Love. “So opening Berryessa and Milpitas is a great thing that needed to
happen a long time ago.”
But San Francisco resident Jacob Eller disagrees.
“It’s a horrible commute anyway,” he said. “The system needs
repair not additional stations.”
The next phase will extend BART into San Jose and then Santa Clara, although that phase is still years away.
Among the officials expected to be at Friday’s ribbon cutting are Congressman Mike Honda, Assemblyman Kansen Chu, Santa Clara County supervisors Cindy Chavez and Dave Cortese, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and Milpitas Mayor Richard Tran.
Source: NBC Bay Area