Where do Bakersfield's freeway projects stand?
| Tuesday, Sep 08 2009 05:17 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Sep 08 2009 05:18 PM
WHERE THINGS STAND
* North Beltway/7th Standard Road (Santa Fe Way to Coffee Road): Widen to four lanes.
Construction under way; projected completion mid-2011.
* Highway 99/7th Standard Road interchange (Coffee Road to Highway 99): Construct interchange improvements.
Construction under way; anticipated completion end-2009.
* West Beltway (7th Standard Road to Highway 119): Route adoption complete.
Construction dependent on future development and funding.
* Highway 58/Rosedale Highway (First phase Allen Road to Highway 99): Widen to six lanes.
Projected to start early 2012.
* Hageman Road Flyover (Knudsen Drive to Golden State Avenue/Highway 204): Construct four-/six-lane lane extension.
Projected construction start late-2012 (pending funding availability).
* 24th Street (Improve Oak Street intersection. Widen 23rd and 24th streets from Highway 99 to M Street).
Projected construction start early 2013.
* Highway 178/Fairfax Road interchange: Construct interchange and widen Highway 178 to four lanes.
Construction nearing completion.
* Highway 178/Morning Drive interchange: Construct interchange and widen Highway 178 to four lanes for about 1 1/2 miles.
Projected construction start late 2011.
* Highway 178 widening (Vineland Road to Rancheria Road).
Construction of first phase, widening Vineland to Miramonte Drive to four lanes, expected to start late 2011.
* Westside Parkway Phase 2 (Heath Road to Truxtun Avenue): Construct four-/eight- lane freeway.
Construction anticipated to start late 2009.
* Mohawk Street extension/Westside Parkway Phase 1 (Rosedale Highway to Truxtun Avenue): Construct six lanes.
Construction under way, completion expected mid-2012.
* Centennial Corridor/Highway 58 (Interstate 5 to Westside Parkway): Route adoption done.
* Centennial Corridor/Highway 58 (Westside Parkway to Highway 58): Alternative routes A through D under consideration to construct six-/eight-lane freeway.
Projected construction start (first segment): early 2014.
Source: Thomas Roads Improvement Program
Four years ago, Bakersfield got the news that then-Congressman Bill Thomas had secured $630 million to build an epic network of freeways around the city.
It's been a rough four years.
Cost estimates for the freeway plan proved drastically optimistic. Beltway freeways around the city were downgraded to road widenings -- or simply abandoned.
A grand freeway loop circling downtown Bakersfield was scrapped.
Planned construction dates were pushed back by years.
But the money is being put to work.
A freeway interchange at Fairfax Road and Highway 178 -- part of a planned widening of the freeway that will also use Thomas funds -- is pretty close to done.
Some $20 million of Thomas money helped make that happen.
Another $10.66 million has been moved into the new Highway 99 interchange at 7th Standard Road that is currently under construction and the widening of 7th Standard that will soon begin.
Construction on the Westside Parkway, a freeway along the north side of the Kern River from Truxtun Avenue to Allen Road, has already begun.
Thomas money won't fund that but will be used to connect it to Highway 58. And the Westside Parkway will eventually run all the way to Interstate 5.
His money will also help pay to widen and improve 24th Street through downtown and create a flyover connecting the east end of Hageman Road to Highway 204 and widen Rosedale Highway to six lanes.
Much work remains to be done to ensure all the remaining projects are funded through the Thomas Roads Improvement Program. City and county officials will need to raise bond money to finish the work and some critical segments are likely to face opposition.
But for the first time in Bakersfield since 1978, new freeway projects are under construction.
