WELDON, Calif. (KERO) — A road to nowhere.
That's what Sierra Way in the Kern River Valley has become. The road, which connects Weldon to Kernville, has been closed for months due to damage from flooding, and that damage has only gotten worse. Now, a portion of the road has collapsed entirely.
"Why don't they just build the bridge back real quick?" asked Kern River Valley resident Dion Agnew, adding, "Though yeah, this is worse than I've ever seen it here."
The answer to Agnew's question is that Kern County is looking for ways to fix it, but those fixes could cost around $40 million dollars.
Agnew has owned a home in the Kern River Valley for 20 years, and he says the Sierra Way closure is affecting his access to the local dump.
"It impacts everybody that has to go to the dump because the dump is in Cyrus Canyon up here, so everybody has to go all the way to Lake Isabella, to Kernville, and then come back down south to get to the dump," said Agnew. "Some of them, it's adding an hour each way to their drive. It's a big difference."
At Tuesday's Kern County Board of Supervisors meeting, Interim Director of Kern County Public Works Joshua Champlin said the flows of the river are preventing work on Sierra Way from starting.
"As long as those types of volumes of water are running through there, it is very difficult for public works to do any kind of fix. If we had the ability, we would be in there fixing it right now," said Champlin, adding that it might be as much as 2 years before the river's flow recedes enough for work to begin.
Champlin says the county has applied for grants to cover the estimated cost of the repairs.
"This area is very unique in the fact that it is a preserved area, and similar to Mr. Hill, we have applied for approximately $40 million dollars from the California Office of Emergency Services to build a lasting solution," said Champlin.
The proposed solution would create a causeway - an elevated bridge - over the Kern River. Champlin says they are waiting to hear back about whether the county will receive the funding.
This comes as residents in the Kern River Valley are dealing with complete and partial road closures of Highway 178 and Highway 155, both of which were also damaged by flooding.
In a statement, District 1 Supervisor Phillip Peters said, "It is imperative that we take this time to plan a permanent solution for this road so we are not dealing with this issue in the future."
Peters went on to say that the county is currently repairing local parks that suffered flood damage, as well as working with state and federal partners to get the 178 and 155 repaired and fully open as soon as possible.
A permanent solution would be a relief for residents like Agnew.
"I'd love to see it happen. This road is a problem every time we get heavy rains and snowpack. This road will close just from flooding. I've never seen the flow that came through here, but improving this needs to be done, and they've talked about it for years," said Agnew.
Stay connected to 23ABC on the air and online for updates about the progress of repairs on Sierra Way and the other damaged Kern County roadways as they become available.
