BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The Bakersfield City Council unanimously voted to postpone its consideration of a construction contract for the H Street Corridor Improvement Project to first hear from business owners and residents in the area.

The proposed contract is with Griffith Company in the amount of $14,372,735. The construction would cover H Street from Highway 58 to Golden State Avenue.

City of Bakersfield seeks over $14M construction contract for H Street improvement project

The project would focus on improving safety for bicyclists and pedestrians, implementing several traffic calming elements, beautifying the roads and more.

The city is looking to begin construction in late July and finish construction for the portion around Bakersfield High School before students return to class, according to officials. The construction would be carried out in four phases and wrap up in about a year.

Ward 6 Councilman Zack Bashirtash made a motion to postpone the contract approval to the next City Council meeting.

He said the information on the agenda was limited and many constituents reached out to him with concerns.

City officials said one meeting delay won’t have a significant impact on the project timeline, but construction should begin soon to match the grant funding timeline and finish construction near BHS in summer.

Larry Koman, councilman representing Ward 5, said the city should already have been ready to begin construction on the last day of school.

“So coming to us with a contract for a project and expecting us to rush into it, that concerns me a little bit,” said Koman.

Ward 2 Councilman Andrae Gonzales also expressed his desire to hear from the affected business owners and stakeholders on this project during the two-week delay.

The next City Council meeting is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. June 10 at 1501 Truxtun Ave.

The H Street Corridor is one of the major corridors going into downtown Bakersfield, according to Public Works Director Zachary Meyer.

About 85% of the contract would be paid with federal and state funding, while about 15% would come from local dollars — mostly in the form of gas tax — Meyer said.

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There have been 319 collisions recorded on H Street in the past five years, with one bicyclist death and one pedestrian death, according to Assistant Public Works Director Paul Archer.

The city has also held multiple meetings with the community for public outreach and spoke to business owners and residents along H Street, who shared concerns about vehicles driving too fast in the area.

Some of the planned design features include bike lanes on either side of the road, 74 decorative lights along the corridor, repavement of the entire road and 174 new trees along the entire corridor, Archer said.

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