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Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre
The station viewed from the parking garage in 2018
General information
Location	1365 Treat Boulevard Walnut Creek, California
Coordinates	37°55′42″N 122°03′22″W / 37.928399°N 122.055992°W / 37.928399; -122.055992
Line(s)	BART C-Line
Platforms	2 side platforms
Connections	AC Transit: 702 County Connection: 7, 9, 11, 14, 15, 18, 311, 316 SolanoExpress: Blue, Yellow
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Parking	3,011 spaces
Bicycle facilities	90 lockers
Accessible	Yes
Architect	Gwathmey, Sellier & Crosby Joseph Esherick & Associates
Other information
Station code	BART: PHIL
History
Opened	May 21, 1973 (1973-05-21)
Passengers
2024	2,460 (weekday average)
Services
Preceding station Bay Area Rapid Transit Following station Walnut Creektoward San Francisco International Airport or Millbrae Yellow Line Concordtoward Antioch via Pittsburg/​Bay Point
Location

Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station serving the Contra Costa Centre Transit Village in Contra Costa Centre, California, just north of Walnut Creek and just east of Pleasant Hill. It is served by the Yellow Line.

Station design

Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre station is located in the unincorporated Contra Costa Centre area of Contra Costa County, slightly east of Interstate 680 and south of incorporated Pleasant Hill. The two elevated tracks of the BART C-Line run northeast–southwest through the station location, with two side platforms at the station. All buses stop on a two-way busway on the southeast side of the station. Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre is a transfer point for a number of County Connection local routes:

• Weekday: 7, 9, 11, 14, 15, 18
• Weekend: 311, 316

The station is also served by several longer-distance routes: the Solano Express Blue Line and Yellow Line, WHEELS route 70X, and AC Transit Early Bird Express route 702.

History

The BART Board approved the name Pleasant Hill in December 1965. Service at the station began on May 21, 1973. AC Transit bus service began in Pleasant Hill on December 8, 1975, with Pleasant Hill station as a hub. The service was taken over by County Connection in 1982. By 2002, Pleasant Hill had the most parking spaces of any BART station, with 3,398 spaces in a garage and surface lots. A BART plan released that year proposed expansion of the paid fare lobby and the platforms. Seismic retrofitting of the parking garage took place in 2008–2009.

Walnut Creek station was originally intended to serve the surrounding low-density suburban neighborhoods. However, apartment complexes and mid-rise office buildings were soon constructed nearby. County plans approved in 1983 and 1984 initiated the concept of a "transit village" of mixed-use transit-oriented development around the station. Planning began around 2001 to replace the surface parking lots with a transit village. The plan called for three mixed-use buildings south of the station, an office building west of the station, and expansion of the parking garage north of the station.

Construction of the second parking garage began in March 2006. The garage opened on June 30, 2008, at a cost of $51.2 million; the surface parking lots were closed at that time. Construction of mixed-use buildings (Block A and Block B) began the next month. The two buildings, as well as a $12 million footbridge carrying the Iron Horse Regional Trail over Treat Boulevard, were opened in October 2010.

On September 23, 2010, the BART Board voted to change the station name to Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre to reflect the name of the transit village. The name change was supported by the transit village developer and the Contra Costa County Redevelopment Agency, but opposed by the city of Pleasant Hill. The Contra Costa County Redevelopment Agency and the developer paid the $413,800 cost of changing station signage and system maps.

Construction of a third building in the transit village, Block C, took place from 2018 to 2020. In March 2024, the BART Board approved plans to change the approved office building (Block D) to residential use.

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. ^ "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.
3. "Monthly Ridership Reports". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. June 2024.
4. ^ "Transit Stops: Pleasant Hill Station Area". Metropolitan Transportation Commission. January 24, 2024.
5. "Names Approved for 38 Rapid Transit Stations Around Bay". Oakland Tribune. December 10, 1965. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
6. History of Lines by Line: Major Changes Since 1960 (PDF). Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District). July 17, 1978. p. 5.
7. "Will extra miles dim the smiles of genial county service?". The San Francisco Examiner. June 1, 1982. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
8. ^ Pleasant Hill Station Comprehensive Plan (PDF). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. July 2002.
9. "Earthquake Safety Program Construction Updates (archive)". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. 2009.
10. ^ Amended Pleasant Hill BART Station Area Specific Plan. Contra Costa County. October 6, 1998. pp. 5, 10.
11. "Record of Special Meeting". Pleasant Hill BART Station Leasing Authority. June 20, 2022. p. 11.
12. ^ "BART breaks ground for transit village at Pleasant Hill Station" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. July 17, 2008.
13. "New Garage at Pleasant Hill Station" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. June 20, 2008.
14. Macias Gini & O'Connell LLP (November 24, 2020). "Annual Financial Report for the Years Ended June 30, 2020 and 2019" (PDF). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. p. 99.
15. "Street closures near Pleasant Hill Station Oct. 1-2 for grand opening ceremony" (Press release). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. September 27, 2010.
16. King, John (October 9, 2010). "Footbridge an elegant new icon in East Bay". SF Gate. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
17. "Board of Directors: Minutes of the 1,608th Meeting: September 23, 2010" (PDF). San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. September 23, 2010. p. 3.
18. "A Resolution of the City Council of Pleasant Hill Opposing Contra Costa County's Proposal to Rename the Pleasant Hill BART Station". City of Pleasant Hill. October 4, 2010.
19. ^ White, Lisa P. (September 22, 2010). "Pleasant Hill BART station now 'Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre". East Bay Times.
20. Toms, Maureen; Brooks, Sean (February 19, 2019). "Agenda Item 8 – Real Property Negotiations Block D of the Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre BART Transit Village". Pleasant Hill BART Leasing Authority. p. 2.
21. Toms, Maureen (April 19, 2021). "Agenda Item 4 - Resolution Approving the Second Amendment to the License Agreement that permits Block D to be used for temporary parking". Pleasant Hill BART Station Leasing Authority.
22. "Board Meeting Agenda". San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. March 14, 2024. p. 94. Archived from the original on May 3, 2024.

External links

• BART – Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre

• Bay Area Rapid Transit stations in Contra Costa County, California
• Railway stations in the United States opened in 1973
• Stations on the Yellow Line (BART)