LAFAYETTE, CALIFORNIA — The Lafayette BART station is in the middle of a major makeover, and by the time the project is done, the station’s south entrance should feel noticeably different.
The city and BART are building a new bike station, a safer pedestrian and bicycle pathway, a public plaza, a new passenger turnaround, and a large suspended public art installation near the entrance between BART and downtown Lafayette. The work is part of the long-planned BART Bike Station/Pathway Project, a joint project between the City of Lafayette and BART.
A Safer Connection From BART to Downtown
The biggest practical change is the new ADA-compliant shared-use path, which will connect the Lafayette BART station to the existing Town Center pathway leading toward the downtown core.
That may sound small, but it solves a long-running gap in one of Lafayette’s most important walking and biking connections. According to the city, the earlier Town Center pathway segment was finished in 2018, but the final leg into BART remained unimproved, unattractive, and not ADA-compliant.
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A New Secure Bike Station
Lafayette BART is also getting a new secure, unattended Bike Station at the south entrance, with space for up to 82 bicycles. That is a notable upgrade for a station that currently lists bike racks and 32 on-demand BikeLink lockers, but no Bike Station.
The idea is simple: make it easier for people to bike or walk to BART instead of driving, especially for short trips from nearby neighborhoods and downtown.
A New Plaza, Turnaround, and Public Art
The project will also create a new public plaza between the Town Center pathway and the BART entrance. BART says the project includes a new passenger vehicle turnaround and a suspended public art installation.
The art piece is called Dandelion Seeds, by Kinematics Lab. The city described it as 15 giant, hand-formed stainless steel dandelion seeds suspended over the new pedestrian plaza, designed to gently move in the wind.
In other words, the south entrance should become less of a leftover edge of a parking lot, and more of an actual gateway between BART and downtown Lafayette.
Parking Will Change, Too
The tradeoff is parking.
During construction, about 50 reserved parking spaces in Lot A have been closed, leaving about 70 available in that lot. Once the work is complete, 19 BART parking spaces will be permanently repurposed for the new plaza and vehicle turnaround.
BART says access to Lot A from Happy Valley Road remains unchanged, and pedestrian and bicycle access is being maintained through or around the construction area.
Construction Is Moving Along Now
The Lafayette City Council awarded the construction contract to Pleasanton-based Integra Construction Services in October 2025, with a bid amount of $2.59 million. The city says construction started in March 2026 and is expected to be completed by the end of summer 2026.
BART puts the total project cost at about $3.2 million, with funding primarily from Contra Costa County Measure J transportation sales tax revenue through the Contra Costa Transportation Authority, along with BART Measure RR funds.
As of the city’s May 22 update, crews were continuing work on the Bike Station foundation, with plans for concrete work, curb wall forming, and grading for the new walkway and ramp. Regular working hours are 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
We stopped by and took the photos you see in this article on May 14.
Why This Matters
This is not (another!) giant new housing project or a dramatic station expansion. But for Lafayette, it is still a meaningful change.
Lafayette’s BART station sits in an awkward but important spot: next to Highway 24, close to downtown, and just far enough from many homes and businesses that the last few hundred feet of a trip can feel more difficult than it should.
The new pathway, bike station, plaza, and public art are meant to make that connection safer, more comfortable, and more useful. If it works, the south side of Lafayette BART could feel less like the back side of a commuter lot and more like a front door to downtown.
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