- On Wednesday night at 6 p.m., California Highway Patrol reports that several drivers hit a large pothole in the northbound lanes of Golden State Avenue headed out of downtown Bakersfield prompting law enforcement to close the road. CalTrans Public Information Officer Alex Aguilera says crews are actively working to fix the problem, but there is no set timeframe for when it will be complete. Aguilera also said drivers who were affected by the pothole should file a claim with CalTrans.
- CHP PIO Officer Tomas Martinez told 23ABC that shortly after they received multiple calls about the incident they shut down the roadway and will be rerouting drivers to another CA-99 on-ramp off of Buck Owens Boulevard.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
In the coming days, if you're sunk for time, you're not going to want to use the northbound lanes of Golden State Avenue, a giant sinkhole opened up on Wednesday night forcing this stretch of road to be shut down.
On Wednesday Night, several cars hit this pothole on a bridge on Golden State Highway and took severe damage prompting CHP to close the well-travelled road. In the meantime, CHP will be re-routing traffic away from the intersection that leads to it.
"In this case, we are going to have to reroute them down 'F Street through downtown to 24th Street and then they can get on the northbound 99 from Buck Owens [Blvd.] There will be a little bit more of a time delay for them traveling through downtown," said Martinez
Which begs the question, how long will drivers be asked to re-route their commute? CalTrans says that's still up in the air, but they're working diligently to get the road fixed, so drivers can get up to speed.
"This is an emergency -- emergency project, so right now there isn't a set, planned timeline for the repairs," said Aguilera.
With the well-traveled road closed, however, Caltrans is turning lemons into lemonade. Crews with hoses, street sweepers, and various other roadwork vehicles were on the highway working on cleaning it up while there was an open opportunity due to the narrow road's closure.
"CalTrans is, on a constant basis, especially with all of the rain we've been seeing these recent, past couple of weeks, they're always working on making sure that our drains are cleared ... to avoid emergency repairs like this," said Aguilera.
And if you're one of the unlucky individuals who drove over that pothole and suffered damage to your vehicle, you're advised to reach out to CalTrans to file a claim.
"The public is welcome to reach out to the CalTrans Claims department and CalTrans will perform an investigation to determine if compensation is met"
Again talking with CHP and CalTrans officials, they're asking for people's patience at this time and to find alternate routes that don't involve the northbound lanes of Golden State Avenue.
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