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Eyes on the Station: BART Celebrates 19th Street Modernization

New lights, fresh paint, new art at 19th Street BART. And a BART janitor keeping it all sparkly. Photos: Streetsblog/Rudick

Note: GJEL Accident Attorneys regularly sponsors coverage on Streetsblog San Francisco and Streetsblog California. Unless noted in the story, GJEL Accident Attorneys is not consulted for the content or editorial direction of the sponsored content.

BART officials celebrated the completion of a major makeover of its 19th Street station in Oakland on Saturday. Improvements include new paint, bright-and-modern lighting, and illuminated artwork to help make some of those previously dark corners of the stations seem a little more inviting. From a BART statement:

The upgrades and improvements to the station in the heart of Oakland’s Uptown neighborhood allow BART to expand station capacity, improve access, save energy, reduce fare evasion, and enhance the customer experience. The station is now brightly lit for safety with an open concept, modern look as the project redesigned the concourse to turn three paid areas into one continuous paid area, and eliminated hidden corners by using glass barriers instead of brick.

Streetsblog was given a tour of the new installations by BART's art program manager Jennifer Easton, who explained that the artwork in the station is intended to evoke the area's music-and-dance history.  The artwork is strategically placed on the stairwells, as seen below:

"Waxed for Dancing" placed to make the stairwells more inviting.
"Waxed for Dancing" was placed to make the stairwells more inviting.
"Waxed for Dancing" placed to make the stairwells more inviting.

"Waxed for Dancing," by Lisa Bank and Hailey Payne Banks, is "stylistically inspired by Sweet's Ballroom," a venue that drew famous musicians to the neighborhood. Another stairwell is adorned with Phillip Hua's "Where do we go from here," seen below:

"Where do we go from here" by Phillip Hua
"Where do we go from here" by Phillip Hua
"Where do we go from here" by Phillip Hua

Tiles were fixed for the project and new gold paint was added to the ceiling, along with bright white and blue LEDs seemingly everywhere:

Gold paint was added to the roof trusses.
Gold paint was added to the roof trusses.
Gold paint was added to the roof trusses.
The gold trusses and improved lighting makes for a better look
The gold trusses and improved lighting make for a better look
The gold trusses and improved lighting makes for a better look

Also, the station has brand-new bathrooms:

One of the stations newly renovated bathrooms
One of the station's newly renovated bathrooms. Streetsblog will spare readers the view of the commodes.
One of the stations newly renovated bathrooms

Streetsblog took a peek inside and they're tidy, at least for now. In addition, formerly steel railings were replaced with glass:

Glass replaced steel around the escalators and bike storage
Glass replaced steel around the escalators and bike storage
Glass replaced steel around the escalators and bike storage

The glass partitions are also intended to help defeat fare beaters, said Easton. The station will soon be getting higher fare gates that are harder to jump.

Streetsblog found a picture from before to show what the railings used to look like:

BART's railings before the facelift. Photo: LocalWiki

Streetsblog found the new station to indeed be more inviting and bright, but there's some question about the practicality of a decision to replace steel fencing with glass. This is a picture from the opening weekend of the Central subway last month:

Note the smashed elevator door.
Note the smashed elevator door.
Note the smashed elevator door.

Expecting glass to last in the Bay Area, sadly, is a little unrealistic. Additionally, this was a missed opportunity to improve wayfinding in the station. Below is a newly illuminated and polished sign with directions, but it's also the kind of wayfinding that's a little too artistic for its own good and is easy to miss:

BART could still do better. Japanese stations, which can be enormous and staggeringly complex, aren't hard to navigate because of floor markings and clear signs, generally color coded. Here's an example from New York's MTA of how BART might still improve things:

This is also something San Francisco got right with the new Central Subway connection at Powell:

It lacks the follow-me stripes of NYC or Tokyo, but Muni has the right idea with these markings on the floor
It lacks the follow-me stripes of NYC or Tokyo, but Muni has the right idea with these markings on the floor
It lacks the follow-me stripes of NYC or Tokyo, but Muni has the right idea with these markings on the floor

Is that Streetsblog nitpicking? Of course. That said, the 19th Street station certainly looks better, especially the staircases. Some more photos below:

Directors Li and Raburn (left and right) meet Oakland's new mayor Sheng Thao
Directors Janice Li and Robert Raburn (left and right) meet Oakland's new mayor Sheng Thao
Directors Li and Raburn (left and right) meet Oakland's new mayor Sheng Thao
Note the blue LEDs and gold strips to keep everything bright
More signs, more illumination
More signs, more illumination
More signs, more illumination
New go
One last look down the length of the east-bound platforms
New go

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