Bridge work rises from riverbed
| Monday, Oct 26 2009 05:01 PM
Last Updated Monday, Oct 26 2009 05:07 PM
Images
Casey Christie / The Californian The large pilings are silhouetted, Friday morning in the Kern River bed at the Mohawk Bridge construction site.
Casey Christie / The Californian Workers are progressing on the construction of the Mohawk Bridge, as a cyclist passes by on the bike path in the foreground near the Kern River Parkway.
Casey Christie / The Californian The pilings portion of the Mohawk Bridge construction is in full swing, the water in the foreground is not from the Kern River.
If you travel regularly on the Truxtun Avenue extension, you've no doubt noticed a swarm of poles growing from the riverbed opposite Mohawk Street.
Those are pilings for a bridge going up over the Kern River, part of a $28 million project that will connect Truxtun to Rosedale Highway.
The so-called Mohawk Street Extension broke ground in April. But work on the 1.2-mile stretch has only recently become readily visible to passing motorists on Truxtun.
State transportation dollars are paying for the north-south arterial, which will feature three lanes in each direction and cross over railroad tracks and the future Westside Parkway north of the river.
The Mohawk extension, though it runs north and south, is technically the Westside Parkway's first phase. The parkway is a long-planned east-west freeway that will run from Truxtun and Heath Road. Eventually it could reach Interstate 5.
A groundbreaking ceremony last Friday inaugurated construction on a major east-west segment, a $76.5 million, 4.2-mile stretch between Mohawk and Allen Road also being paid by state-allocated transportation money.
Work on the Mohawk Extension is expected to finish in spring 2012, while the Mohawk-to-Allen leg of the Westside Parkway should be done in summer 2012.
You can track progress of these and Bakersfield's other major road projects at www.bakersfieldfreeways.us.
CONSTRUCTION EVERYWHERE!
Yes, it's cone-zone central around Bakersfield these days. Here are this week's highlights from the city's construction division:
* Stockdale Highway commuters continue to face delays on two stretches -- California Avenue to Wetherly Drive and Country Club Lane to Ashe Road. This week, the contractor is working on median irrigation and landscaping. Work will carry on through mid-February.
* Ashe Road's is down to one lane in each direction between White Lane and Ming Avenue. A pavement reconstruction project is expected to finish up in early December.
* Wilson Road is also down to one lane in each direction between White Lane and Planz Road for pavement reconstruction that will finish in early December.
* Mount Vernon Avenue between Columbus and University avenues will be snarled through early December by pavement reconstruction work.
