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Westside Parkway & Centennial Corridor (CA 58 realignment, Bakersfield)

Started by bing101, January 07, 2014, 10:51:19 AM

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sparker

The right bemoans the fact that the American default position is no longer as disciples of traditional values and practices, while the left whines about the fact that we're too willful as individuals and not self-loathing enough as a species to concede the ideological high road to their largely communitarian ideals.  It's like two boxers who have retreated to their corners; neither has the real strength to continue the fight, so they just come out each round, clinch each other and inflict meaningless body punches until the bell.  Rinse and repeat!  And we spectators don't have a lot of recourse; between gerrymandered districts and the great urban/rural/sociopolitical/socioeconomic divides, a situation of cynical stasis has been attained.  The results of this past election shows that the practice of setting foxes loose in every public-sector henhouse simply exacerbates the problems rather than either fixing them or forcing a completely new set of viewpoints.  Regardless of who won last November's election, the arena containing the nation's transportation issues would still be in a holding pattern -- no one has figured out how to address the runaway inflation regarding both the materials and labor required to effect progress.  It's a dysfunctional illustration of Kingdon's principle of the effective policy "garbage can"; a series of partisan solutions in search of problems that can be "massaged" or reframed to make a fit.  At this juncture, there's no practical way out of the quagmire. 

All this could be discussed and dissected ad infinitum; but the funny thing is that by the time this was even close to being hashed out by current and future posters (likely to no particular conclusion), the CA 58/Centennial Extension would be open to traffic!  And I agree that road development efforts proceeded much more smoothly when earmarks and reciprocal favors could be negotiated and traded freely -- and that process gave the Congressional critters something to do besides pontificating about ideals that none of them will ever achieve much less impress upon their constituents!     


andy3175

Although some of this information is dated, here's an April 21, 2017 article on status of multiple Bakersfield road projects including Centennial Corridor:

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/bakersfield-freeway-building-what-s-done-what-s-to-come/article_70b2361f-afdd-5acb-93b2-e6ee76e657bf.html

Quote1. Beltway Operational Improvements

Details: Provides traffic improvements along Highway 58, from Highway 99 to Cottonwood Road, and adds a lane in either direction along Highway 99 in the area between Ming Avenue and Wilson Road.

Status: 60 percent complete; completion expected in early 2018

...

2. Highway 178 Widening

Details: Widens the highway from two to six lanes from just east of Morning Drive to Masterson Street and from two to four lanes from Masterson to Miramonte Drive. Masterson, Alfred Harrell Highway, Miramonte and Highway 184 will be realigned and/or widened where they intersect with 178.

Status: 85 percent complete; completion expected in May 2017

...

3. Southbound Highway 99 auxiliary lane/Rosedale Highway off-ramp improvements

Status: 95 percent complete; completion expected this month

IN DESIGN AND RIGHT-OF-WAY ACQUISITION

4. 24th Street Improvement Project

Details: Widens, realigns and restripes 24th Street from west of Highway 99 to east of M Street; realigns and restripes 23rd from west of C Street to east of M Street to add a lane in each direction. Also includes improvements to the 24th Street/Highway 99 interchange and the northbound 99 auxiliary lane; widens the Oak Street/24th Street intersection.

Status: Design 65 percent complete; right-of-way acquisition 100 percent complete

The project designer is working to complete the sound wall construction plans. Sound walls for properties on the north side of 24th Street could begin in summer 2017.

Demolition work is underway on the north side of 24th Street. Five houses have been removed; eight houses are scheduled for demolition in April.

...

5. Truxtun Avenue/Oak Street Intersection Operational Improvements

Details: Widens Truxtun to three lanes in both directions between Empire Drive and Elm Street.

Status: Design 100 percent complete; right-of-way acquisition 65 percent complete

Timeline for the lane expansion is subject to receiving permits from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Army Corps of Engineers.

6. Hageman Flyover

Details: Connects Hageman Road to Golden State Highway/Highway 204 with roadway across Highway 99.

Status: Design 95 percent complete; right-of-way acquisition 0 percent complete

Caltrans is finalizing draft plans. The city is working with San Joaquin Valley Railroad on a construction and maintenance agreement and a California Public Utilities Commission permit application. Right-of-way appraisals and acquisition will not begin until design has progressed to 100 percent.

7. Centennial Corridor

Details: Connects Highway 58 to the Westside Parkway with possible connections to southbound Highway 99.

Status: Design 65 percent complete; right-of-way acquisition 98 percent complete

Final design, right-of-way acquisitions of single-family properties, and demolition activities are underway. To date, 202 of the 222 houses and retail properties have been demolished.

The City Council has approved purchase agreements for 192 single family properties (99 percent of what must be acquired); nine multi-family properties (100 percent of what must be acquired); and 17 commercial/industrial properties (89 percent of what must be acquired). Sewer, local streets, screen wall and sound wall packages are being prepared and work is expected to begin in summer 2017.

On March 29, the City Council awarded the $41.1 million contract for the Kern River Bridge Improvements Project to Security Paving Company.
Regards,
Andy

www.aaroads.com

sparker

I do hope that the plans to connect the Centennial Corridor to the existing portion of CA 58 east of CA 99 include an additional lane on CA 58 out to the section that's already 6 lanes -- which should have been done 38 years ago when the facility was first opened (thanks, Ms. Gianturco!) :pan: Otherwise, expect nasty traffic backups!

compdude787

At least they left enough room in the median to widen CA 58 to 6 lanes.

sparker

Quote from: compdude787 on June 29, 2017, 08:55:17 PM
At least they left enough room in the median to widen CA 58 to 6 lanes.

That's solely because with a stroke of a pen back about 1976 what was left of the CA 58 project east of CA 99 was cut back abruptly to 2+2 from 3+3.  The engineers did the only rational thing possible and cut the dropped lane from the median; the sole saving grace of that whole situation. 

pderocco

Aerial imagery from June just popped up on Google Maps and Google Earth (but you have to turn off 3D).

sparker

Yowza!!  And that image was from almost 3 months ago.  Obviously this project has been prioritized in a fashion not seen in CA for some time (likely a highly cooperative arrangement between the local MPO and Caltrans!).  One can only hope that they see fit to widen CA 58 immediately east of CA 99 out to its originally (pre-Gianturco days at Caltrans) planned 6 lanes!

Also: does anyone know if an alignment west of the existing Westside Parkway out to I-5 has been selected as of yet?  If so, we'd sure appreciate some info!  :nod:

TheStranger

Just discovered this drone video of the Centennial Corridor right of way, also showing how the shopping center that was at Real Road has been mostly cleared out now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9MHcvcHkKA&feature=youtu.be
Chris Sampang

kkt

Quote from: TheStranger on October 24, 2017, 05:54:12 PM
Just discovered this drone video of the Centennial Corridor right of way, also showing how the shopping center that was at Real Road has been mostly cleared out now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9MHcvcHkKA&feature=youtu.be

Nice video!  Like the shot of the building being demolished...

Max Rockatansky


oscar

Quote from: sparker on June 29, 2017, 09:16:39 PM
Quote from: compdude787 on June 29, 2017, 08:55:17 PM
At least they left enough room in the median to widen CA 58 to 6 lanes.

That's solely because with a stroke of a pen back about 1976 what was left of the CA 58 project east of CA 99 was cut back abruptly to 2+2 from 3+3.  The engineers did the only rational thing possible and cut the dropped lane from the median; the sole saving grace of that whole situation. 

Maybe in that situation, but down in northern San Diego County when I lived in the area, when Ms. Gianturco ordered a new I-15 segment reduced from 4+4 to 2+2, the engineers turned the deleted travel lanes into 12-foot wide concrete shoulders, while keeping bridge widths intact. That way, a later administration could (and did) restore 4+4 just by adding asphalt shoulders alongside the concrete ones, then restriping the old shoulders into new travel lanes.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

sparker

Quote from: oscar on December 01, 2017, 07:57:15 PM
Quote from: sparker on June 29, 2017, 09:16:39 PM
Quote from: compdude787 on June 29, 2017, 08:55:17 PM
At least they left enough room in the median to widen CA 58 to 6 lanes.

That's solely because with a stroke of a pen back about 1976 what was left of the CA 58 project east of CA 99 was cut back abruptly to 2+2 from 3+3.  The engineers did the only rational thing possible and cut the dropped lane from the median; the sole saving grace of that whole situation. 

Maybe in that situation, but down in northern San Diego County when I lived in the area, when Ms. Gianturco ordered a new I-15 segment reduced from 4+4 to 2+2, the engineers turned the deleted travel lanes into 12-foot wide concrete shoulders, while keeping bridge widths intact. That way, a later administration could (and did) restore 4+4 just by adding asphalt shoulders alongside the concrete ones, then restriping the old shoulders into new travel lanes.

Yeah, Gianturco was quite blind as to context, preferring to either eliminate road projects completely or reduce them to their legal minimum (she couldn't do much about Interstate construction except to do that minimum plus delay lettings whenever she could).  The only saving grace to her Caltrans administration was that some questionable urban routings that had been hanging around since the '50's were finally deleted (along with a bunch of more worthy alignments!).   To Caltrans engineers, '75-'83 were the "wilderness" years.  Ironically, the next (Deukmejian) state administration was "penny-pinching" in nature; it took some time to get things rolling after 1983.

Techknow

It looks like the city of Bakersfield has posted an update on their progress. The flyover doesn't look too different from before, but according to a couple news articles all ROW has been acquired by now. Also at the beginning, construction of Phase 1 is currently underway

sparker

Quote from: Techknow on February 13, 2018, 12:38:57 PM
It looks like the city of Bakersfield has posted an update on their progress. The flyover doesn't look too different from before, but according to a couple news articles all ROW has been acquired by now. Also at the beginning, construction of Phase 1 is currently underway


Question: are they starting construction (the above mentioned Phase One) from the west (Kern River bridge) or east (CA 99 interchange) end?  -- the corridor portion pictured in the post doesn't indicate this. 

Techknow

Quote from: sparker on February 13, 2018, 05:21:27 PM
Question: are they starting construction (the above mentioned Phase One) from the west (Kern River bridge) or east (CA 99 interchange) end?  -- the corridor portion pictured in the post doesn't indicate this.
I noticed that the previous video update had the drone head north along the corridor but for the latest update the drone was heading south instead (the video ends at the SR 58/99 interchange). So it appears the phase one construction is at the Kern River Bridge

sparker

Quote from: Techknow on February 13, 2018, 11:27:13 PM
Quote from: sparker on February 13, 2018, 05:21:27 PM
Question: are they starting construction (the above mentioned Phase One) from the west (Kern River bridge) or east (CA 99 interchange) end?  -- the corridor portion pictured in the post doesn't indicate this.
I noticed that the previous video update had the drone head north along the corridor but for the latest update the drone was heading south instead (the video ends at the SR 58/99 interchange). So it appears the phase one construction is at the Kern River Bridge

Thanks!  That actually is to be expected, given the present iteration of Caltrans -- since the (arguably) most expensive part of the construction will be the ramps to CA 99, it'll be put off until the final phase.  Quite a turnaround from the '50's and '60's heyday -- they did the most difficult portions first (possibly to forestall interim inflation, but more likely to avoid the generation of controversy).  Adhering to that program allowed many corridor completions, particularly in urban areas, before the onset of the "freeway revolt" circa 1965-73 (a method to their madness!?).   

Techknow

Another news article has cropped up with some important updates:

  • Funding for the entire project is complete, including $50 million from the federal DOT
  • Multiple phases of the project will begin or have begun this year, but not the construction of the corridor itself
  • Currently, the target completion date is 2022, which is in four years!

kkt


sparker

Quote from: Techknow on June 18, 2018, 04:02:27 PM
Another news article has cropped up with some important updates:

  • Funding for the entire project is complete, including $50 million from the federal DOT
  • Multiple phases of the project will begin or have begun this year, but not the construction of the corridor itself
  • Currently, the target completion date is 2022, which is in four years!

When referring to the "entire project", does that terminology cover (a) simply the in-town connector between the existing parkway and the 58/99 interchange or (b) the whole shooting match out to I-5?  If the latter, securing funding to do so is in itself a miracle! -- and, hopefully, we'll finally see some actual plans for the 5/58 interchange (my money's on an elongated trumpet). 

kkt

I think the funding is just the in-town connection.

When an interchange with I-5 is built, I hope it doesn't have any missing movements.  The movements two and from west of I-5 might be done with a stoplight, but they should not require merging onto 5 and then exiting.

sparker

Quote from: kkt on June 19, 2018, 12:16:17 PM
I think the funding is just the in-town connection.

When an interchange with I-5 is built, I hope it doesn't have any missing movements.  The movements two and from west of I-5 might be done with a stoplight, but they should not require merging onto 5 and then exiting.


Since there will be two I-5/CA 58 interchanges when the Westside extension is done -- likely along Stockdale -- I don't think that there will be any facility extension at the southern/Westside interchange that would require signalization (unless Caltrans decides to do cheap & dirty here); I think the Westside extension will be free-flowing onto NB 5, with a trumpet loop and corresponding ramp being the contrary moves.  Of course, the existing 5/58 Buttonwillow interchange will remain as is, but serving CA 58 west of I-5, with CA 58 multiplexed over I-5 between the two interchanges.

kkt

Stockdale Highway continues west of I-5 a few miles.  I'd hope there will be a direct connection to/from the Westside Extension to Stockdale Highway west of I-5.    Not a freeway, but at least an overpass and 2-lane road.

sparker

Quote from: kkt on June 19, 2018, 04:29:59 PM
Stockdale Highway continues west of I-5 a few miles.  I'd hope there will be a direct connection to/from the Westside Extension to Stockdale Highway west of I-5.    Not a freeway, but at least an overpass and 2-lane road.


It's likely that the Westside Parkway will parallel Stockdale (too many private access points on the existing road), with a separate interchange with I-5 rather than something "piggybacking" on the present interchange; an extension of Stockdale west of I-5 probably won't have any bearing on the transition between I-5 and CA 58 (unless, as I've said before, Caltrans "cheaps out" and eschews a freeway-to-freeway interchange).  But considering the effort put into the in-town connector, it would seem appropriate for D6 to just build CA 58 as a full freeway.

But, OTOH, there's the longstanding CA 14 to CA 58 discrepancy to consider as a precedent.  Let's just hope they don't pull that shit on the Westside!

pderocco

I just drove through the construction. Not much going on in the residential area, besides a few of the cross streets being turned into cul-de-sacs. But they're pouring their effort into building the overpass over Truxton Ave.




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