Valley Link Rail — A Delayed Transit Future for the Midtown District

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Livermore's long-anticipated direct rail connection to BART has hit a significant setback — one with major implications for the city's Midtown development strategy. In June 2025, the Valley Link board approved a strategy that divides the first round of construction into two phases — delaying construction of the Southfront station in Livermore in order to first connect the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station to the Vasco Road Altamont Corridor Express station, because costs more than doubled between 2022 and 2024. The Southfront delay directly affects Livermore's Midtown Specific Plan Area — a transit-oriented neighborhood south of Interstate 580 that the General Plan 2045 designates for infill housing and mixed-use development contingent on the station's arrival. Livermore's Innovation and Economic Development Director Brandon Cardwell acknowledged the uncertainty but maintained that Midtown plans were not exclusively dependent on the Valley Link station — a pragmatic position that will be tested as the Midtown plan moves toward entitlement.

Related cause: Transit

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