BAY AREA (BCN) — Passengers who use BART elevators may soon find the ride to be a little more tolerable.
Starting Monday, BART will begin cleaning and replacing the flooring in all of its 127 elevators at stations and parking garages throughout the Bay Area, BART officials announced today.
The construction will be done in stages and the work will continue through December 2016.
The elevator makeovers came about after BART officials recognized that the current material readily absorbs odors and liquids that can corrode and damage underlying structures, BART officials said.
After tearing out the old flooring, technicians will thoroughly clean, disinfect and repair the entire elevator, including any areas underneath the floor that have been damaged by urine or liquid that leaked through, BART officials said.
Technicians will then install new aluminum diamond-plate flooring and the floor will be completely sealed to prevent the problem from reoccurring, according to BART officials.
During the work, elevators being worked on will be removed from service, requiring people who are dependent on elevators to change transportation plans on the dates the work is being done, BART said.
BART released a schedule of the first five stations set to receive the renovation.
Starting on Monday through Aug. 28, crews will be working on the Pleasant Hill Station parking garage. Then from Sept. 18 to Sept. 23, crews will work on the Lafayette station, followed by the Walnut Creek station from Sept. 24 to Sept. 29.
After that, crews will move to Oakland work on the 12th Street Station from Sept. 30 to Oct. 5 and the 19th Street Station from Oct. 6 to Oct. 9.
A full schedule of station and parking garage elevator closures will be updated as new information becomes available, according to BART officials.
BART is encouraging passengers to check if the elevator at both their home and destination station is in service by calling (510) 834-5438 or (888) 235-3828.