NV5 was first retained by the City of Bakersfield to manage Phase 1 of the Westside Parkway (Mohawk Street Extension), a $28M project on new 6-lane alignment with three bridges over the BNSF Railroad, future State Route 58 Interchange, and crossing the Kern River. Because of the successes on the project (the project was delivered under budget and one year ahead of schedule), the City then retained NV5 to administer the remaining Segments through what is known as Phase 6C. The Parkway extends from Stockdale Highway at Heath Road in the residential areas on the west side of Bakersfield to Truxtun Avenue within the city’s central business district.
The six phases managed by NV5 amount to approximately $200 Million in construction contracts and includes the construction of five interchanges, 20 bridges of both pre-cast and cast-in-place design; over 2 million cubic yards of earthwork; dozens of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) and Type 1 retaining walls; over 5 miles of masonry block soundwalls on CIDH foundations; approximately 4,000 linear feet of cast in place box culverts ranging in size from double to quadruple barrel, two large storm drain pump plants, and the City’s second largest sewer lift station.
The project was especially challenging, and similar in nature to a design sequencing project, with five additive alternate packages bid covering several miles of the freeway construction, wherein design varied from between 35% and 65% complete. NV5 met the challenge and construction schedule by coordinating with the designer, the contractor, various local and federal agencies, railroads including BNSF and SJVRR, regulatory agencies, and utility companies.
When the Westside Parkway (future State Route 58) is completed, it will extend from Truxtun Avenue, just west of State Route 99 to Heath Road and will incorporate five new interchanges. This new east-west freeway is a long-needed route that will significantly reduce traffic congestion and will be an important link in the overall connectivity of the local transportation system. The project is being administered by the Thomas Roads Improvement Program (TRIP) which is a cooperative effort between Caltrans, the City of Bakersfield, County of Kern, and the Kern Council of Governments.