Bakersfield council adopts long-range Active Transportation Plan to pursue grants, prioritize pedestrian and bike safety

Bakersfield — The Bakersfield City Council voted Jan. 22 to adopt the city’s Active Transportation Plan, a state-required long-range report intended to guide pedestrian and bicycle projects and strengthen the city’s ability to compete for state and federal grants.

The plan lays out 19 proposed trails and 128 miles of active-transportation connectivity, plus about 453 additional miles of neighborhood sidewalk and local connections. The consultant presented a planning-level construction estimate of about $616,000,000 to complete the network; staff and council repeatedly described that figure as a long-range total, not a budget appropriation.

City staff framed the plan as a compliance and prioritization document. Daryl de Ponce, consultant, Kimley Horn and Associates, said the plan integrates existing local and regional plans, ranks trail segments by likely usage and crash history, and points to grant programs that could fund smaller projects over time. “We had a fairly lengthy process … we had over 500 members of the public participate,” de Ponce said, describing the outreach and the prioritization factors used to score corridors.

Public commenters included Yesenia Fernandez, policy coordinator with Blue Zones Project Bakersfield, who said, “I would like to express our strong support for the proposed active transportation plan.” Two other public speakers urged different priorities: Michael Turnipseed questioned the $616 million line and pointed to earlier, smaller off‑road trail proposals; Dave Demahowski, representing the Home Builders Association of Kern County, said the association’s primary concerns were the potential effect on development costs, citing “impact fees and VMT fees” as areas members wanted staff to review before the council moved forward.

Council members and staff addressed those concerns in the meeting. City staff and the city attorney advised that the document is a planning and grant-eligibility tool and not a funding appropriation. A city attorney offered to add explicit language to the resolution clarifying the plan will not directly modify development impact fees or TIF obligations. A staff speaker reiterated that most projects of the type in the plan are funded by competitive grants and that individual projects would return to council for environmental review, design and contract approval before construction.

Councilmember Smith moved adoption and the motion passed; the clerk recorded approval with Councilmember Weir absent. Council members who spoke said the plan responds to a local safety problem: Bakersfield’s pedestrian and bicyclist crash record was cited repeatedly as a reason to prioritize infrastructure changes that could reduce injuries and fatalities.

What happens next: the plan makes project lists and priorities available for grant applications. Individual projects would be screened and scored for funding, undergo environmental review as required, and come back to the City Council for design and contract decisions.

Votes at a glance

• Resolution adopting the Active Transportation Plan — Moved by Councilmember Smith; second not specified in record; outcome: approved (Councilmember Weir absent).