Bakersfield Opens New Centennial Corridor Freeway
The two-mile freeway demolished a swath of the Westpark neighborhood: 271 homes, 15 multi-family buildings and 36 commercial structures
The post Bakersfield Opens New Centennial Corridor Freeway appeared first on Streetsblog California.
This morning Caltrans and the city of Bakersfield celebrated the opening of the Centennial Corridor freeway.
The new $1.5 billion freeway closes a gap in Highway 58, extending it about two miles northwest from its prior terminus at Highway 99 to meet with the Westside Parkway.
As with many freeway mega-projects, the Centennial Corridor freeway took a long time. Much of the federal funding was approved two decades ago, at the hand of the area’s Congressmember William Thomas, who retired in 2007.
Construction took place in a few phases, lasting over a decade.
According to several news accounts, the Centennial Corridor freeway project demolished a significant swath of Bakersfield’s Westpark neighborhood, home to an estimated sixty percent people of color. About 1,000 residents were displaced as Caltrans tore out 271 homes, plus fifteen multi-family buildings (totaling 110 housing units), and 36 commercial structures (with 121 businesses).
Media accounts are asserting that new freeway will “eradicate decades of gridlock” and end a “traffic nightmare.” However, it is a long-established fact that this sort of freeway expansion does the opposite. Adding more miles of freeway lanes means inducing more driving, resulting in more traffic congestion.
The post Bakersfield Opens New Centennial Corridor Freeway appeared first on Streetsblog California.
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