The Central Avenue and Liberty Street Streetscape Improvements Project is intended to improve walking and biking routes to transit, support high-density infill development, and enhance the sense of place and quality of life in the El Cerrito Plaza BART Station Area. Through its General Plan policies, Circulation Plan, and Draft San Pablo Specific Plan, the City has identified the El Cerrito Plaza area as a high-activity node and has identified the need for streetscape improvements to enhance pedestrian and bicycle facilities to businesses and transit. Central Avenue and Fairmount Avenue play key roles in the Plaza Area as the primary east-west corridors for travel. Liberty Street, bordering the main BART parking lot, connects these corridors and leads directly into the Plaza shopping center.
The project is located on four blocks of Central Avenue from San Pablo Avenue to the Ohlone Greenway and one block of Liberty Street from Central Avenue to Fairmount Avenue. The project is also within El Cerrito’s San Pablo Avenue Priority Development Area approved by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). The scope of the project includes sidewalk replacement, decorative concrete on median noses, pedestrian-level lighting, curb bulb-outs, curb ramps, high-visibility crosswalk signing and striping, bike route signing and striping, street trees, and street furniture. The estimated cost for planning, design and construction of the Central Avenue and Liberty Street Streetscape Improvements Project is $1,280,000.