KERN RIVER VALLEY, Calif. (KERO) — Progress is being made on repairs on Sierra Way - but what hasn't changed in the 20 months that this road has been closed is the impact the closure has had on residents and local businesses.
- Several delays caused due workers not having access to the area during the Borel fire and weather impacts have pushed the opening date of the road to early December, 2024
- Sierra Way has been closed since March, 2023
- The cost of fixing this road is 3.2 million dollars
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
On a chilly Friday morning two regulars at the Airport Cafe share a laugh with manager Heidi Espindola.
Heidi says these regulars are now the ones keeping the Airport Cafe afloat.
"We’re hanging on by our teeth because our business has gone down so low," Espindola said.
Espindola says a majority of their business came from cars passing by on Sierra Way who see their sign.
“Honestly I’d say about 80 percent of it,” Espindola said, "I get like a quarter of the people that I used to get. We used to be busy, the patio and the inside was full, we’d have people waiting to sit. Now that doesn’t happen anymore.”
Sierra Way connected drivers on the 178 to Kernville – bringing them past the Airport Cafe.
Now, to get to Kernville from the 178 you have to take a longer route, which doesn’t pass the cafe.
“We just have shortened our menu, because we’re not having the business,”
Residents have felt the impact too, like Richard Lach, long-time manager of the Airport who is now retired. Lach lives in Weldon.
“It’s [risen] my fuel bill by a factor of almost three. The normal drive over here is about 15 to 16 miles on the backroad, but since it’s closed, I now have to drive the long way around which is 33 miles,” Lach explained.
Carla Thorn also feels this impact – she lives on Sierra Way and has to drive to South Lake to take care of her elderly mother.
“It’s not just the amount of miles, it’s been a real big safety concern for me, in the last year I’ve had about six close calls with head on collisions,” Thorn said.
Without an alternative route, all the traffic coming into Kernville comes from the 155.
Sierra Way no longer sees the commercial traffic it used to - those large vehicles have to go around the lake to Kernville.
“Now, it’s a ghost town out here. We have just the people who live beyond me and that’s not very many of them,” Thorn said.
Sierra Way first washed out during floods in March of 2023 due to the swollen South Fork of the Kern River. Kern County Public works has stated water rushing through the area Sierra Way prevented immediate repairs.
In November of 2023, they attempted a temporary repair to open the road to emergency traffic that washed away shortly after.
In June, after the ‘155 Fire’ ignited residents' fears about the lack of an escape route for residents in the case of a fire, District Supervisor Phillip Peters announced design work for the road repairs would soon be completed.
“This will allow for an estimated construction start date of July 15th with September 23rd being the estimated date of completion for the project,” Peters stated in a video released by Kern County on June 7, 2024.
However, after delays regarding the design work and restricted road access during the Borel Fire – that completion date has been pushed back.
First to November –
SALVADOR GOMEZ##ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, KERN COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS
“Now because of weather delays we are looking at early December,” said Salvador Gomez.
Salvador Gomez, Assistant Director of Kern County Public Works, took me around the construction site on November 15, 2024.
“We are currently doing rock slope protection and after we pave we are going to be installing railing, installing signs, and finally striping.”
With the construction of four 10x12 box culverts and the installation of two 5 ft culverts for overflow - Gomez says the road is more flood resistant than it was before.
The contractor is Granite construction and Thorn says based on what she has seen, she likes the design of the repairs.
“I think Granite is doing a great job. I think Kern County has dropped the ball.”
There’s a frustration among residents about the continued delays - many say it reinforces the feeling that residents in the Kern River Valley are overlooked by Kern County.
“Everytime I have called the county since my visit with the [Kern County] Board of Supervisors last February, I have never gotten a return call,” Thorn said.
“It feels like we are getting toyed around. Everytime we get excited thinking okay it;s going to open in November, and November is here and it's still not open,” Espindola said.
“What would your reaction be if I were to tell you it’s going to open in two weeks?” I asked Richards Lach.
“That's fabulous, I don’t believe it but that's fabulous,” Lach said.
Espindola says she’d welcome the road opening so that the Airport Cafe could get the business it once did.
“To see people through this road again would be amazing,” Espindola said.
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