BART to kick off first Measure RR-funded project

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) this weekend will begin its first track repair project funded by last year's Measure RR ballot initiative.

Crews will start rebuilding track between the Lake Merritt and Fruitvale stations in Oakland, Calif. The work will require several track closures over the coming weeks, BART officials said in a press release.

The agency typically performs track maintenance and repair during late-night hours when trains aren't running. However, the "scale of the needed repairs through this stretch of track is too great to accomplish in only a few hours, as it takes too much time to stage, deploy and brake down a work area," BART officials said.

BART will deploy extra staff at stations and put up signage to guide passengers during the closures.

Voters in November 2016 approved Measure RR, which allows BART to issue $3.5 billion in general obligation bonds to pay for major system repairs.