The elevated Montague light rail station opened in June 2004. It was renamed Milpitas in December 2019 when the bus plaza and connecting footbridge were opened. The below-grade BART station, constructed as part of the Silicon Valley BART extension, opened in June 2020 along with a parking garage.
History
The BART station under construction in 2015
The VTA Light Rail station opened as Montague station on June 24, 2004, as part of the Tasman East expansion, originally without any parking spaces.[4]
The BART station is the northern of two stations constructed as part of the $2.3 billion phase I of the Silicon Valley BART extension, which broke ground in 2012. The complex was built by and is owned by the VTA.[5] Opening was delayed repeatedly from its 2016 completion date.[6][7]
In December 2019, the VTA and AC Transit bus station opened,[8][9] while the light rail station was officially renamed from Montague to Milpitas.[10]
An official ribbon cutting for the BART station was held on June 12, 2020, with service beginning the next day on June 13, 2020.[11][12][13]
A 229-foot (70 m)-long footbridge crosses Montague Expressway on the north side of the station. Construction of the $19.33 million bridge, which connects to the second level of the garage, began in 2019; it opened in July 2021.[14]
Station layout
Layout of the Milpitas station complex
The Milpitas station complex is located near the intersection of East Capitol Avenue and the Montague Expressway, near the south border of Milpitas. The BART tracks run roughly north–south in a trench below street level, with two 700-foot (210 m)-long side platforms. The station building is approximately 430 by 160 feet (131 m × 49 m), with an undulating roofline and three large circular skylights. Entrances are on the east and west sides of the station building, near its southern end, leading to a central corridor. Fare control areas are on opposite sides of the corridor; both have stairs and escalators to the platform, with elevators in the north fare control area.[15]
The BART station features stained glass windows by BJ Katz and Chris Klein, titled Ethos of Imagination, above the main entrance. Twenty support columns along the platforms are encased in ceramic tiles by Amy Trachtenberg, titled Ecstatic Voyaging, patterned after the ikat dyeing technique.[16]
The light rail tracks are elevated above East Capitol Avenue, running approximately northwest–southeast. A mezzanine is located under the single island platform, with stairs and an elevator to the median of East Capitol Avenue at South Milpitas Boulevard. A pedestrian bridge leads from the light rail mezzanine northwest to the west side of the BART building where escalators and an elevator lead to the plaza.[15]
The bus plaza is located west of the BART station building. It is served by nine VTA bus routes (20, 44, 47, 60, 66, 70, 77, and 104) and one AC Transit route (217); it serves as a transfer point between the two bus systems.[15] It is the only BART station served by both VTA and AC Transit, and the only VTA light rail station served by AC Transit. The six-story, 1,631 space paid parking garage is located east of the BART building.[15][17] A paid 185-space indoor bike parking structure is located underneath the footbridge; free bike racks are dispersed around the station.[17]
^"BART-to-San Jose construction to start in April". Associated Press. March 13, 2012. Retrieved August 17, 2017. Transportation leaders on Monday signed final documents pledging $900 million in federal funds for the $2.3 billion Berryessa extension, scheduled to open in 2016.
