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Lake Merritt
A southbound train at Lake Merritt station in June 2019
General information
Location	800 Madison Street Oakland, California
Coordinates	37°47′52″N 122°16′00″W / 37.79777°N 122.26659°W / 37.79777; -122.26659
Line(s)	BART A-Line
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	AC Transit: 18, 62, 88, 96 ACMC Highland Shuttle
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Parking	207 spaces
Bicycle facilities	Racks, 84 lockers
Accessible	Yes
Architect	Yuill-Thornton, Warner & Levikov
Other information
Station code	BART: LAKE
History
Opened	September 11, 1972
Passengers
2024	2,760 (weekday average)
Services
Preceding station Bay Area Rapid Transit Following station West Oaklandtoward Daly City Blue Line Fruitvaletoward Dublin/​Pleasanton Green Line Fruitvaletoward Berryessa/​North San José 12th Street Oakland City Centertoward Richmond Orange Line
Location

Lake Merritt station is an underground Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station located east of Downtown Oakland near the eponymous Lake Merritt. The station is served by the Orange, Green, and Blue lines. It is the nearest BART station to Chinatown, Laney College, and Jack London Square station.

Station layout

The station has a single island platform located two levels below ground, with a fare mezzanine above it. The station has four entrances from Oak Street between 8th Street and 9th Street.

A largely-unused oval courtyard adjacent to the fare lobby includes reliefs of sea creatures and birds designed by William Mitchell. Now-closed portholes in the reliefs allowed the public to peer into the BART Operations Control Center. A fountain was originally located in the courtyard. Walls in the station feature tile work in red, black, and off-white by Alfonso Pardiñas.

History

The construction of Lake Merritt station and the adjacent BART Administration Building leveled three blocks of Chinatown – one of several major displacements in the area, along with I-880, Laney College, and the Oakland Museum of California, that took place in the mid-20th century. By August 1965, the city of Oakland preferred the name "Peralta Center" for the station. However, a BART committee recommended "Lake Merritt" that October, which was approved in December.

The station opened on September 11, 1972 – part of the first section of BART to open. Due to a national strike that year by elevator constructors, elevator construction on the early stations was delayed. Lake Merritt was the only station on the initial segment with elevators available upon opening.

The BART Administration Building was located in a dedicated six-story office building constructed concurrently on top of the station. In 2003, due to potential risk of earthquake damage, the headquarters was moved away from the station to leased space in the Kaiser Center. The former Administration Building was dismantled in 2009–2010. Seismic retrofitting of the station took place in May–September 2009. Bathrooms at underground BART stations were closed after the September 11 attacks due to security concerns. The bathroom at Lake Meritt station reopened on June 28, 2022, after a renovation, with an attendant on duty during all operating hours.

In September 2018, the BART Board selected a developer for transit-oriented development on BART-owned land around the station. On September 8, 2022, the board approved plans for a 457-unit residential development to replace the station parking lot. The parking lot closed on September 16, 2024, to allow construction to begin. The first building will have 97 residential units; the second will have 360. Two additional buildings with 100 residential units and 500,000 square feet (46,000 m) of office space are planned in a future phase. They would use the parcel currently occupied by BART Police headquarters, which is planned to be relocated near the main BART offices in 2026. An additional phase would develop an isolated BART lot off 7th Street. As of 2024, BART indicates "significant market, local support, and/or implementation barriers" that must be overcome to allow that development; it would not begin until at least the mid-2030s.

References

1. Cerny, Susan Dinkelspiel (2007). An Architectural Guidebook to San Francisco and the Bay Area (1st ed.). Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith. pp. 501–502. ISBN 978-1-58685-432-4. OCLC 85623396.
2. "Monthly Ridership Reports". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. June 2024.
3. "Station Map: Lake Merritt". Metropolitan Transportation Commission. July 25, 2019.
4. ^ Weinstein, Dave. "How BART got ART". CA-Modern. Eichler Network.
5. "Look what has happened to the 'subway' station". BART: A bright new day for the Bay Area. San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. November 1972. pp. 10, 11 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Lake Merritt Station Area Plan" (PDF). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. December 2014. pp. 2–4.
7. "Differences On Transit Stop Names". Oakland Tribune. August 24, 1965. p. 50 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "A Name For BART Station?". Oakland Tribune. October 20, 1965. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Names Approved for 38 Rapid Transit Stations Around Bay". Oakland Tribune. December 10, 1965. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "BART Chronology January 1947 – March 2009" (PDF). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2013.
11. "Strike Delays Elevator Service at Some Stations". Oakland Tribune. September 10, 1972. p. 36 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Board approves purchase of new headquarters saving public funds in future" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. September 12, 2019.
13. "Earthquake safety work planned for Lake Merritt Station" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. May 13, 2009.
14. "Earthquake Safety Program Construction Updates (archive)". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. 2009.
15. "Earthquake safety work planned for Lake Merritt Station" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. May 13, 2009.
16. "Restrooms now open at Montgomery and Lake Merritt" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. June 28, 2022.
17. "BART Board green lights Lake Merritt TOD" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. September 12, 2018.
18. "BART Board approves hundreds of homes for Lake Merritt Station" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. September 8, 2022.
19. "Lake Merritt parking lot to permanently close 9/16/24 as TOD construction begins" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. August 14, 2024.
20. "Lake Merritt TOD construction begins in 2024; parking changes start June 1" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. March 21, 2024.
21. "BART Police Department Headquarters (BPD HQ)". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
22. BART Transit-Oriented Development Program Work Plan: 2024 Update (PDF). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. March 2024. p. 17.

External links

Media related to Lake Merritt station at Wikimedia Commons

• BART – Lake Merritt
• BART – Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) - Lake Merritt

• Bay Area Rapid Transit stations in Alameda County, California
• Stations on the Orange Line (BART)
• Stations on the Green Line (BART)
• Stations on the Blue Line (BART)
• Railway stations in Oakland, California
• Railway stations in the United States opened in 1972
• Railway stations in California at university and college campuses
• Railway stations located underground in California