THE CENTENNIAL CORRIDOR PROJECT – CONCEPTUAL ALTERNATIVES.

The Kern County Rotunda was the place for a non-meeting on an issue of great importance – a “ freeway” or “parkway”. “Manned” tables at all entry points intercepted all citizens for the signing in procedure.

The place was filled with chattering citizens, who were from their faces numbed by the scene of all the Information Boards set out on easels in a circle. One table had six three inch thick blue covered EIR’s – not opened. Maybe this was a little intimidating to review for facts. Clusters of people were inquiring from different folk with lapel nameplates what the substance of these alternatives was about. I am not sure that they got straight answers.

The map that I received was an aerial color map, without scale, but it did have a north point! Five colored lines from Hwy 58 East all joined with the Westside Parkway. My instincts suggested all of these alternatives were considered to give pain and to strike fear into all the businesses and houses that fell under these colored lines. This is a straw man concept to justify the route talked about by Caltrans of continuing Hwy 58 east to the west along Stockdale Highway to Hwy I 5.

Well with others I patiently went to review all the Boards and was struck by the lack of an “executive summary” that would give me inkling to make a choice for any one of the five alternatives. There was none. Imagine all this consulting effort and no way to come to a sensible conclusion. It was like going to a super market and coming away with no substantive information but leaving with a colored brochure, when it was really food one wanted to purchase.

Thoroughly disappointed that I had spent time wishing for interaction with knowledgeable people, technically involved with the criteria underlying these costly thoughts, I sat down at a table an hastily wrote out all the negatives I could think of on two pages and with my business card dropped them in the box for further consideration. Will I get a response – not likely?

Reflecting on this less than a “high school effort” all these five alternatives would have a somewhat equal cost/benefit impact to all those under the five colored routes exhibited. Well here we are again asked to face grave consequential circumstances for our future mobility without any idea as to how these alternatives would either improve future gridlock or better movement capacity. Least of all how the cost for any alternative would add value to our community at large and or integrate with “TheBeltway” or High Speed Ground Transportation futures.

After living, contributing and waiting for a sensible and practical solution for this community for thirty years, the past efforts have been ignored and the future does not appear to have arrived in any acceptable form to do proper service to get around with ease and with less consumption of resources.

What surprised me the most was the clear abdication of our local decision makers. Not one City, County, KCOG or State representative did I recognize in my short sojourn to this non-meeting. Where and when is a serious debate going to begin on our future “freeway” system?

Graham Kaye-Eddie

Master Urban Designer