BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 Construction in downtown Bakersfield is impacting businesses right before one of their busiest holidays \u2014 Halloween.<\/p>\n
Parts of Wall Street have been torn up, leaving shop owners dealing with unpaved sidewalks right before Halloween. As I walked through the area, I couldn’t even enter the front door of one bar downtown.<\/p>\n
One customer, who said he was unaware of the construction, told me finding parking is now more challenging.<\/p>\n
“It was a lot of construction trucks. It’s weird just to walk in the dirt. It’s downtown. It should be cemented.”<\/p>\n
He is just one of many customers who said they were unaware of the construction. Other customers I saw had to roll their wheelchair in through the dirt, up the step, to get into the shop.<\/p>\n
Trisha Fike, owner of Guthrie’s, said business owners are frustrated with the timing of the California Water Service project.<\/p>\n
“You would have to be delusional to think that there wasn’t going to be a big deal. If they would’ve left us alone until January, we could’ve gotten through all of our holidays – everything would’ve gone smoothly.”<\/p>\n
While summers are long and slow, Fike said businesses like hers depend on making revenue around some of their biggest holidays \u2014 like Halloween.<\/p>\n
Wall Street isn’t the only area where ripped out sidewalks are a concern.<\/p>\n
Marc Deleon, the owner of Mad Dog Tattoos along 18th and 19th streets, said a project that should’ve been done since the beginning of October is still going.<\/p>\n
“We do have some metal grates in front of our business right now and it helps a little bit but coming onto the property from the street, you gotta go through dirt.”<\/p>\n
Both Guthrie’s and Deleon said they hope construction is finished soon, as their businesses will remain open with the latest updates.<\/p>\n
If you plan on heading downtown for Halloween, shop owners say they will remain open and ask residents to be cautious of the walkways.<\/p>\n
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.<\/p>\n
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