City officials will host a public learning session tonight at Bakersfield High School's Harvey Auditorium to discuss major improvements planned for H Street from Golden State Avenue to Highway 58.The $16 million project aims to transform H Street into a complete street with enhanced safety features for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers. Zac Meyer, public works director for the city of Bakersfield, said the corridor was identified as a major north-south route to downtown, particularly important with high-speed rail development."We want to take a complete street look at this corridor and try to make safety improvements along the whole section," Meyer said.The improvements will include curb bulb-outs at most intersections to shorten pedestrian crossing distances, new bike lanes where feasible, enhanced lighting throughout the corridor, and three roundabouts at H and 2nd Street, H and Palm, and H and 28th Street.Meyer said about 80% of the project funding comes from state and federal sources, including active transportation program dollars and Clean Air Act mitigation funds. The remaining 20% will come from local dollars.The city plans to put the project out to bid this spring, with construction likely beginning in March or April. One contractor will oversee the entire project, but work will be sequenced to avoid having traffic cones and lane closures along the entire stretch simultaneously.Construction near Bakersfield High School will be scheduled during the summer months when school is out of session.The longest segment of the project runs from Highway 58 to California Avenue, where the city will maintain parking for local businesses while adding bike lanes. This section will be reduced from multiple lanes to two lanes with a center left-turn lane to keep traffic moving.Meyer said he welcomes all feedback from the public, including concerns about the project."As an engineer, I do like hearing the bad things just because I want to know what the concerns are," Meyer said. "We want to fix it. The smoother we can make the construction project go, the better."The public learning session begins at 6 p.m. at Harvey Auditorium at Bakersfield High School.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.Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere: Download Our Free App for Apple and Android Sign Up for Our Daily E-mail Newsletter Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Instagram Subscribe to Us on YouTube ...read more read less