BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Major changes are coming to H Street this spring as construction begins on the highly anticipated improvement project, but some business owners warn the overhaul could make traffic even worse.
Gerardo Nieves, owner of Panecito y Café located on H Street and Brundage Lane, says he's worried about how the H Street improvement project could affect his business that he opened nine days ago.
"I think it's going to affect us because it will be hard for customers to come to our store," Nieves said.
Although he just opened, Nieves says he's already noticed traffic in the area without construction, but now he's more concerned about lane closures.
"I'm worried because when it'll be a one lane each way there's going to be more traffic. I mean right now there's no construction and there's already a lot of traffic," Nieves said.
The H Street improvement project will add new street lighting, wider roads, roundabouts and bike lanes from Route 204 to Highway 58.
Right across the street from Panecito y Café is Maria's Bridal Shop. Maria de la Luz Inguanzo opened her store 20 years ago and says recently there's been more traffic in the area.
"I've had customers tell me that they're already struggling to get here or they can't find parking so we're already struggling with that," Inguanzo said.
Inguanzo says she's already planning for when there's a reduction in lanes in front of her store.
"Extend our store hours so my clients can still come and avoid the construction area," Inguanzo said.
Statement from the city
The H Street Improvement Project is expected to implement new safety strategies to reduce the frequency and severity of crashes on H Street, as well as encouraging multi-modal transportation use such as walking, biking and other options.
Through the project H Street will see a variety of changes between Highway 58 and Golden State Highway (Hwy 204), including new traffic circles at the 2nd Street, 4th Street/Palm Street and 28th Street intersections, protected pedestrian crossings, enhanced street lighting, and a road diet. That “road diet” includes reducing traffic to one lane in each direction (plus a bike lane in each direction) and a center turn lane the entire stretch. H Street will remain two lanes in each direction between California and Truxtun (plus bike lanes on each side).
The City held a Community Meeting [storymaps.arcgis.com] for impacted H Street businesses and residents on Monday, Jan. 12 at Bakersfield High School [storymaps.arcgis.com]. Staff was on-hand to explain the project as well as answer any questions from the public. 23ABC did report on it ahead of the meeting. We are not planning any other community meetings at this time.
We have also created a special H Street Improvement webpage [bakersfieldcity.us] on the City’s website which includes an FAQ and a video.
Construction is expected to start in April or May and is expected to last 12 months over multiple phases. The corridor near Bakersfield High School will be planned for during the summer so it does not impact students or school traffic.
Council Member Andrae Gonzales sent a statement that reads: "I'm very concerned to hear that business and property owners have not been better included in the design of H Street. City Hall must do a better job, and I cannot support any movement forward until we address the concerns of all stakeholders."
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