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San Jose— On Monday, February 4, 2008, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) will begin work on the final phase of its light rail platform retrofit project. Construction will occur at 13 stations in central and south San Jose and is scheduled to be completed in early 2009.

Upon project completion, every light rail station in VTA’s system will offer level boarding between the platform and each vehicle doorway. Level boarding increases access for mobility-impaired individuals who currently must use ramps or lifts to access light rail vehicles at the stations not yet retrofitted. 

“Removing that step up into a light rail vehicle opens the door for everyone to easily access public transportation. In the past, mobility-impaired individuals were limited by the location of ramps or lifts. With level boarding, access is greatly improved,” said Aaron Morrow, Chairperson of VTA’s Committee for Transit Accessibility.

Construction will begin at Tamien Light Rail Station. While weekday service and schedules at Tamien are not expected to be affected by construction activities, some service disruptions will take place on weekends and affected passengers will be provided substitute bus service.

Construction fencing is scheduled to be installed at Tamien on Monday, February 4 and the partial weekend closures and bus bridging are slated to begin Saturday, February 9. The station is expected to return to full service in late May. During construction, access for mobility impaired individuals will be maintained on the station platform.

Tamien Station is one of two light rail stations that will remain open during the retrofit work, with Santa Teresa being the other. The remaining 11 stations will close to passenger boarding and exiting while being retrofitted. They include: Children’s Discovery Museum, Virginia, Curtner, Capitol, Branham, Ohlone/Chynoweth, Oakridge, Almaden, Blossom Hill, Snell and Cottle. Information regarding substitute bus service will be posted at each station during construction.

Children’s Discovery Museum and Virginia stations will close for retrofitting beginning February 25 and are scheduled to reopen to passenger service in late April. Passengers who normally use Virginia Station are being directed to VTA Bus Route 25 on Willow Street, which runs every 10 minutes on weekdays and every 15 minutes on weekends. Passengers who normally use Children’s Discovery Museum are being directed to the Convention Center Station two blocks to the east or to VTA Bus
Route 23, which runs every 12 minutes on weekdays and every 15 minutes on weekends.

A tentative schedule of station construction and closures is posted on VTA’s website, www.vta.org, in the “projects” section. Information on substitute bus service during construction can be obtained by calling VTA Customer Service at (408) 321-2300; TDD only, (408) 321-2330.

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About VTA
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is an independent special district responsible for bus, light rail and paratransit operations; congestion management; specific highway improvement projects; and countywide transportation planning. As such, VTA is both an accessible transit provider and multi-modal transportation planning organization involved with transit, highways and roadways, bikeways and pedestrian facilities.

For more information about VTA services, call VTA Customer Service at (408) 321-2300, (408) 321-2330 (TDD only). Or, log on to www.vta.org.