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Resident urges sidewalks and traffic calming on 30th Street; city staff says phased CDBG project will add segments
Summary
A Bakersfield resident asked the City Council for speed-control measures and sidewalks on 30th Street near Longfellow Elementary. City staff said the work is included in the city's CDBG curb-and-sidewalk program, funded in part by general CIP dollars and will be done in phases over about three years.
A Bakersfield resident told the City Council on July 9 that children walking to Longfellow Elementary School regularly have to share the roadway with vehicles and asked the city to install traffic-calming measures and sidewalks.
Michael Torres, who said he lives on 30th Street, told the council, "I'm requesting that, if there's any way we could get speed bumps or radar or see if, Department of Transportation would actually help out ... so we could get sidewalk so somebody doesn't get hit." He described several recent crashes and near-misses on the corridor and said some blocks have no continuous sidewalk.
The request matters because the route is used by schoolchildren and neighbors for routine travel and, according to Torres, multiple segments lack sidewalks. Council member Gonzales said pedestrian safety is a priority and asked staff for an update on improvement projects in the area.
City staff member Clegg told the council the corridor was developed historically without continuous curb, gutter and sidewalks and that the city has included the area in its CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) curb-and-sidewalk program. "We actually set aside additional funds outside of just those CDBG monies, from our general CIP dollars to expedite," Clegg said. He said the work will be phased and is likely to take about three years to complete multiple segments; staff said work will begin this year on segments near Q Street toward 30th Street and that later phases will include stretches along 30th Street toward San Dimas.
Gonzales noted that some work on the corridor had been pending when the area was in a different council ward and encouraged coordination between residents and staff. She also reminded residents that the council has adopted a Neighborhood Traffic Calming Handbook, a toolkit the city posts on its website that outlines options beyond speed bumps.
Council members and staff told Torres they would have staff follow up to provide more detail on the schedule and next steps.
Less-critical details: the comment came during the council's public statements period; Torres identified the problem area as extending from Union to 34th and specifically referenced the intersection of 30th and Q. Staff said the project will be done in phased segments rather than as a single contract.
