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Train station will get face lift
Though West Berkeley residents have known for years that trains run through Berkeley – late night blasts that bring to mind Coltrane in his least lucid moments – very few know that it stopped here.
Hidden beneath the University Avenue I-80 overpass, where concrete pillars cast a cistern-like shadow over the blacktop below, are a few benches where passengers congregate for the morning train to Santa Clara, or the line to Sacramento.
To raise awareness and increase use, the Redevelopment Agency has plans to upgrade the area, both immediate and long term. For now the city and Amtrak have $40,000 to add more benches, trash cans, lighting and for general maintenance.
Long term, however, is a revamp of the entire area. A federal Transportation Improvement Program grant for $641,000, and a pending state grant that could amount to $300,000 will be used to revitalize the area. Concrete plans are yet to be made.
Amalia Lorentz, Associate Planner for
