Demolition for the 24th Street Widening Project is scheduled for the early afternoon Monday.
According to Bakersfield City Engineer Kristina Budak, phase one of the project was scheduled to start Monday at noon.
Budak said eight feet high, green-lined fences were set to be put up along the houses that will eventually face 24th street.
Those fences are being placed to block material going into the houses from the demolition and provide a visual barrier to the traffic.
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The contractors did have some technical problems with their excavator Monday morning, Budak said, but the demolition was set to move forward after lunch Monday.
Five homes are scheduled to be removed during this first phase which would include homes between Cedar St. and Bay St.
“The demolition process will help clean up the area from transients and people breaking into them," Said Nick Fidler the director of Public Works.
Vanessa Vangel with the Citizen's Against the 24th Street Widening Project said right now they are in the appeals process to try to stop the demolition.
“Some one needs to stand up and try to protect it and that’s what our citizen’s group is trying to do,” said Vangel.
Since the construction can move forward, she's worried about the immediate impact, “we’re going to have to live with everyday of hearing the heavy equipment, the dirt, the noise, the dust everything that comes along with demolition and construction.”
The next phase of demolition could take place around the end of March or early April. The City Council would have to award the bid to a contractor which, at earliest, would happen on March 8. If the bid is awarded, the contractors would then have to get all of the proper permits which Budak said typically takes about 10 days.
