With the recent opening of the Warm Springs/South Fremont BART station, Fremont City Council and Fremont Unified School District (FUSD) looks to further expansion of the line and surrounding areas. The City of Fremont’s Community Plan addressed the usage of the land BART is built on along with the unoccupied area outlined by “I-880 on the west, I-680 on the east, Auto Mall Parkway on the north, and Mission Boulevard on the south,” amounting to a total of 879 acres. After a city town hall meeting earlier this year, city developers have begun planning and developing the land around BART.

In addition to proposed multi-use buildings, housing condominiums, and commercial space, the Community Plan looks to create a new elementary school and a public open space.

“The students attending the new elementary school will attend Walters Middle School and Kennedy High School,” FUSD’s superintendent, Dr. Morris said. “The school will be built to accommodate up to 1,100 students from kindergarten through 5th grade.”

The groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for May 31, but a projected construction completion date has not yet been announced. The Board of Education also appointed a committee on Apr. 12 to discuss a name recommendation for this new school.

Residential developers have agreed to contribute additional funding for improvements and increased classrooms at Walters Junior High School and Kennedy High School for the increased number of students. However, the Community Plan also called for more funds to be directed to Horner Junior High School and Irvington High School, as some of the students from the Community Plan area may fall within the Irvington schooling range. These funds will help the schools accommodate the influx of children that will live in the Community Plan area.

At the opening ceremony of the Warm Springs/South Fremont station, city and BART officials, including Mayor Lily Mei announced future plans of eventually connecting the BART line to VTA in San Jose. However, this is not the only expansion to BART officials considered for Fremont.

“The City is working with BART on plans for an Irvington Station,” Kristie Wheeler, Planning Manager for the City of Fremont said. “We have hired a consultant team who will be preparing an updated site plan for the station and a station area plan that will help guide future development and address connectivity/mobility, development standards and design guidelines for both the station and broader area around the station.”

This proposed station would be located between the Fremont station and the Warm Springs/South Fremont station, on the corner of Washington Boulevard and Osgood Road.

Residents of Fremont can expect several changes to the city prompted by the development of the BART station and the Fremont Council’s plan for city expansion.