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Light Rail Retrofit Work to Close Blossom Hill, Cottle Stations

San Jose, Calif. – The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) announced today the Blossom Hill and Cottle light rail stations in south San Jose will be closed for the next six weeks, beginning Saturday, August 16, as the station platforms are retrofitted to provide easier boarding for mobility-impaired individuals.

While the stations are closed, VTA will provide light rail riders at Blossom Hill and Cottle stations a free bus ride to a nearby open light rail station. Since light rail trains continue through the closed stations without stopping, only light rail passengers beginning or ending their trips at these two stations are affected by the closure. All other passengers can continue to ride light rail to and from their destinations without disruption.

The substitute bus bridge service for Blossom Hill and Cottle runs with the same service frequency as light rail, which is every 15 minutes for most of the service day. Passengers, however, are urged to allow extra time to reach their destination when using the bus bridge service. Personalized trip planning services are available by calling VTA Customer Service at (408) 321-2300.

VTA has nearly completed station platform retrofits throughout its 42-mile light rail system. The retrofit work raises the level of platforms to match the floor of light rail vehicles, thus eliminating the step up from the platform to the light rail vehicle. Level boarding allows passengers to more easily board and exit light rail vehicles, and greatly benefits mobility-impaired individuals who are no longer are required to use ramps or lifts to access light rail vehicles. VTA began work on this final phase of platform retrofit work in February 2008 and has retrofitted and reopened nine of the final 13 stations requiring modifications. All stations are expected to be reopened by Thanksgiving weekend later this year.

More information about the Platform Retrofit Project can be obtained by visiting the Service/Construction Notice section of www.vta.org.

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About VTA
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is an independent special district responsible for bus, light rail and paratransit operations; congestion management; specific highway improvement projects; and countywide transportation planning. As such, VTA is both an accessible transit provider and multi-modal transportation planning organization involved with transit, highways and roadways, bikeways and pedestrian facilities.

For more information about VTA services, call VTA Customer Service at (408) 321-2300, (408) 321-2330 (TDD only). Or, log on to www.vta.org.