Gas Station Torn Down As Buskirk Avenue Widening Project Proceeds

It was a landmark for Pleasant Hill residents who drive the back way to Walnut Creek behind The Dome movie theater.

The Fair Oaks Mini Market sat at the corner of Buskirk Avenue and Elmira Drive in the southeast corner of the city for decades.

That gas station, however, is no more. It was torn down last month as Pleasant Hill moves forward with its project to widen and improve the Buskirk Avenue corridor behind the Crossroads Shopping Center.

The city took possession of the gas station in September, then tore it down and removed the underground storage tanks.

The $11 million project, paid for with regional half-cent sales tax money, went out to bid this month. Construction will begin early next year and take two years to complete.

When the project is finished, Buskirk Avenue will be wider and straighter, channeling straight into Hookston Road. Median islands and new traffic signals will be part of the new corridor stretching from Interstate 680 to Hookston Road.