BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 Following the Kern County Grand Jury report highlighting the issue of speeding in Bakersfield’s neighborhood streets, the city is looking to re-evaluate its system, according to city documents.<\/p>\n
The Bakersfield City Council is set to meet today and vote on a proposed response to the Grand Jury report titled “Traffic Calming for the City of Bakersfield \u2014 We Should All Slow Down,” published April 30.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The report outlined several flaws<\/a> that resulted in higher risks of speeding in the city’s neighborhood areas, as well as suggestions that could help alleviate them.<\/p>\n \u00a0RELATED: Bakersfield’s neighborhood streets are vulnerable to speeding drivers: Grand Jury report\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n The Bakersfield Public Works Department is responsible for all aspects of city planning, which includes traffic, the report said.<\/p>\n The City Council and the Public Works Department have to provide a response within 90 days of the Grand Jury report publication, according to the report.<\/p>\n In the proposed response, city officials agreed \u2014 to varying degrees \u2014 with all of the eight findings except one.\u00a0<\/p>\n The report said the city doesn’t have a process to routinely review traffic patterns across Bakersfield.<\/p>\n However, officials disagreed, saying the Public Works traffic division staff “constantly monitors” and adjusts to help improve traffic patterns and timing.<\/p>\n They also rejected implementing a new routine review process, arguing city staff already monitor traffic patterns through Bakersfield’s traffic operations center, using loops and cameras at most intersections where congestion can be a problem.<\/p>\n City officials agreed Public Works has not increased Traffic Engineering staff levels, but said some responsibilities have been transferred to other divisions in the department.<\/p>\n New technology like cameras and software also reportedly helps complete work requests quickly in the office, as opposed to sending out employees to the field like before.<\/p>\n Regardless, city officials agreed to have Public Works review its staffing levels for the next fiscal year and determine what they need.<\/p>\n The city also agreed it could be losing trained employees to other regions or companies due to the differences in pay or workloads.<\/p>\n The proposed response said the city has already conducted a citywide study of all positions and salaries in the last five years, specifically for its engineering sections, but will re-evaluate them and see if Public Works needs further changes to its pay equity.<\/p>\n Officials said Public Works and the Bakersfield Police Department will set up annual or biannual meetings between representatives to review and address traffic concerns, according to the document.<\/p>\n According to the response, the city agreed that Public Works and BPD not meeting routinely can create conflicts of interest between the departments regarding speed enforcement and congestion control.<\/p>\n The report said the city website doesn’t have a clear platform where residents can file traffic complaints, including speeding reports, which makes everyone rely on BPD for traffic enforcement.<\/p>\n