I thought they were just widening 24th Street, I didn't know the project had an international flair and the city was erecting a massive wall rivaling the great one in China as well as building pyramids on either end.
Sometimes you have to get out of your car, get out of your house, get out of your head and see what's there. A few days ago after driving west on 178 to 24th Street, I noticed how exhilaratingly efficient 24th had become (or at least for that moment). Efficient and beautiful in its own way.
Fresh pavement, three lanes in both directions, 200 new trees. I felt like rolling down my window and yelling, "Thank you, Bakersfield. I apologize for anything I might have said through the detours, the dust and the descent into construction purgatory."
Good infrastructure is satisfying. Roads especially and when they do what they were designed to do — deliver travelers to their destinations without inspiring them to beat their heads against the steering wheel — they can give us a whiff of get-away freedom.
Some of my happiest memories of living in Southern California more than 40 years ago revolve around driving. When the freeways moved. L.A. seemed smaller, but smaller in a good way. Smaller in a "I can go from Santa Monica to downtown L.A. and back and not be late for dinner" kind of way.
This spate of construction projects in Bakersfield is designed to get us to work and home for dinner on time. Maybe we haven't had a lot of fun in the last few years, but I think we're setting ourselves up to have some of the best road infrastructure in California and we can toss that around in conversation with our brethren north and south.
Tuesday I walked from our house downtown toward 24th zig zagging back and forth on Elm, Beech, Myrtle and Pine, reprising my role as Walking Jesus. As WJ approached the sound wall, he realized how big it was. If you were in prison and had to climb that wall to get out, you'd go back to your cell and carve birds out of soap.
From an alley between Beech and Myrtle, I spilled onto the sidewalk on the south side of 24th. The sidewalk was spit-polished white, other than the homeless man who was sprawled across one portion of it, and had there not been cars going Mach 6, it would be a great place to take a walk, which people do anyway according to Javier Tellez, head of the landscaping project on 24th Street for Griffith Co.
The beautiful brick wall and generous sidewalk frame the six lanes as well as the neighborhood and trees — both new and ancient — on either side. Outdoor industrial meets the neighborhood, and they may become companionable bedfellows.
I crossed 24th Street — going from the south side to the north — on the much maligned and much discussed crosswalk. Even with the white, crisply-painted crosswalk and sort of a three-stage crossing protocol, I'm not sure I'm walking that with kids, but perhaps it's less daunting than it looks.
Tellez, the landscaper from Griffith Co., was on the north side of 24th finishing up some final details. He talked about the London plane trees (like sycamores), crepe myrtles, cedars, native grasses, myoporum and agave plants (which people have already begun stealing) and the 100 stations, back flows, booster pumps, rock blankets and root barriers that will protect the sidewalk against the tree roots.
"It's just a job," Tellez said, but you could tell by the way he said it and the look he got when he surveyed his plant and tree kingdom on the median strip as well as on both sides that it was more than a job. It may be in his blood; his dad is doing something similar for the Rosedale Unified School District.
Surprisingly, Tellez had more important things to do than talk with me so I walked east and collared Raul Rodriguez who was sweeping his driveway on the corner of Myrtle and 24th. Rodriguez, 80, is a retired upholsterer with six kids, 24 grandkids and six great-grandkids, so he is pretty content even though the sound wall in front of his house doesn't do a lot to block noise. Rather than turn right on 24th Street to get to his house, he opts for coming into the neighborhood from F Street because it feels safer.
"They did do a nice job with the landscaping," he allowed.
Rodriguez returned to his sweeping and I walked east toward A Street and the pyramids — including both large pyramids and baby ones — that will house Bakersfield signage.
I walked back into the neighborhood on the south side and looked back. Cars zipped along in both directions. It's been a schlep but soon it will be in our rearview mirrors.
November 15, 2020 at 04:15PM
https://ift.tt/2ICAnW0
HERB BENHAM: On the road to progress along 24th - The Bakersfield Californian
https://ift.tt/3eCf9lu
Herb
No comments:
Post a Comment