Council approves $14.3M H Street safety and streetscape project, citing traffic-calming and grants

The Bakersfield City Council voted June 10 to move forward with the H Street Corridor Complete Streets project, a multi-phase streetscape and safety overhaul supported by federal and state transportation grants.

Public works director Zach Meyer described the roughly 2.3-mile corridor project (Highway 58 to State Route 204), saying staff recommends converting segments from four through-lanes to a three-lane cross-section with a center turn lane, installing buffered bike lanes, bulb-outs to shorten crossing distances, new street lighting and about $2.4 million for landscaping and irrigation including trees. "These improvements help find a happy medium between travel efficiency and safety," Meyer said, adding that recent collision data on the corridor include vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian collisions and two fatalities in the last five years.

Funding and scope: Meyer said the base construction estimate is about $14.3 million. Funding includes $11 million through the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program and $3 million from the Active Transportation Program (ATP); a local match of roughly $2.6–$2.7 million will be required as the project spends grant dollars. Staff described a phased construction plan to limit traffic disruption and said the work includes signal upgrades, pedestrian safety lighting and a plan to preserve parking where feasible.

Support and opposition: dozens of community members and stakeholders testified. Josh Raper (contractor) and leaders from Central Academy of Arts and Technology (Greg West, Dr. Joanna Kendrick) described safety and access benefits for students and businesses. Kiyoshi Tomono of Adventist Health and Blue Zones Project representatives emphasized public-health benefits and noted federal/state funding restrictions made this project dedicated to multimodal improvements. "This is not just a traffic issue. It is a public health issue," Tomono said.

Opponents and concerns: business owners and residents including Terry Maxwell asked staff to preserve travel lanes and questioned projected traffic impacts — especially downtown between Truxtun and 24th Street — and urged additional study. Staff said intersection-specific right-turn improvements and adaptive-signal timing will help preserve flow in the busiest segments and committed to post-construction monitoring and signal timing adjustments.

Council action: the council approved staff's recommendation to award the contract; the motion carried with Councilmember Weir voting no and Councilmember Bashir Tash abstaining. Staff said any savings at project close will be considered for reallocation with the grant administrators and that the project will be constructed in phases to limit disruption.

What’s next: staff will proceed to contract award and phased construction; they will monitor signals and traffic operations post-installation and will coordinate tree plantings and irrigation with the parks department and the tree advisory group.