Anyone who insists street improvements are boring may be right. But that doesn’t mean officials can’t try to make it fun.
Held from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at the city’s Community House at 2020 R St., the city of Bakersfield’s Active Transportation Summit and Festival was free to the public and planned with the purpose of letting residents explore transportation in its many forms — bike, foot, wheelchair, scooter, stroller, skateboard, to name a few — and see how it can fit into their city.
While it lacks the antics found on the floor of the House of Representatives and sidesteps the controversy of court decisions and COVID-19, street improvements are often multimillion-dollar decisions made daily.
“We want to hear from folks about what we need to do for them for the future,” said Bakersfield Public Works Director Gregg Strakaluse.
And on a day that featured numerous events across Kern, Strakaluse said nearly 275 preregistered for the summit. Those who came were met with a festival-like setting, complete with food vendors, raffles and various activities for all age groups.
Activities such as bike safety courses, a smoothie machine and skateboarding demonstrations by the Bakersfield Skate Co. assuaged children while QR codes and maps were made available for adults to share their opinions on improvements.
“What we really need to see are some of those facilities that help bring added awareness and safety built into the environment, like enhanced crosswalks, buffered bike lanes and wider sidewalks,” Strakaluse said.
Asked what improvements he’d like to see, Blake Galtin with Bakersfield Skate Co. paused.
“No one’s actually asked me that before,” he said. “If I had to say anything I’d want to see drivers take crosswalks more seriously, like on 24th Street nobody ever yields for crosswalks.”
This follows the city’s approval of a traffic calming toolkit earlier this year, which has since been the rubric for several street improvement projects citywide that help make areas more accessible and safe.
On the drier side, attendees were tempted with cookies and air conditioning to sit in on the community workshop, delivered by the event’s keynote speaker, Stewart Robinson. A well-known face in the transportation world and senior vice president of Kimley-Horn consulting, Robinson led a 30-minute seminar on his suggestions for Bakersfield.
Asked how he makes a topic like sidewalks and bike lanes interesting to the average person, Robinson said the key is to relate to people’s personal experiences.
“Relate it to certain locations in the city where they may have experienced walking or riding a bike, scooter or skateboard,” Robinson said.
City staff hope to come before the council in the coming months with a full Active Transportation Plan, which they said will rely heavily on public input.
Ask just about anyone in Bakersfield about road safety and they’re guaranteed to have a story to tell.
Elisa Camacho, who lives in east Bakersfield, said it’s too dangerous for her two sons to ride their bikes to school, despite their grumblings. Even when they bike outside their home, she has them stay in plain view.
“They hate it, oh they hate it so much,” Camacho said. “But there’s nowhere around there for them to find a safe place to ride their bikes.”
In her neighborhood, there are next to no bike lanes — the exception is on Alta Vista Drive — and drivers are known to do burnouts and wheelies on the nearby thoroughfares. So for now, anytime the boys want to ride in peace, she hitches their bikes to the car and drives minutes to Heritage Park.
“I mean, it’s not far, but it’s a drag,” Camacho said.
For more information, visit BakersfieldATP.com.
