A public meeting will be held Thursday night on a controversial freeway, that will eventually connect east and west Bakersfield. It's called the Centennial Corridor and, as it stands now, it will take out more than 300 homes and 120 businesses in central and southwest Bakersfield. Tonight, many residents plan to voice their opinions about it.
The Westpark neighborhood off of Stockdale Highway and real road would see the majority of the impact from the project. Residents we spoke with believe it's all but certain that they'll either lose their homes or end up living next to a freeway.
Last month, Caltrans announced Alternative B as their plan for the Centennial Corridor. It would extend Highway 58 west and north from where it ends now at Highway 99 then connect Highway 58 with the new freeway being built near the Truxtun extension.
Some residents believe the project is going forward no matter what. They've known it for awhile and they're already planning to move forward.
"If they're going to do it, I want them to go ahead and do it. As far as fighting them and hold it off for years, I don't really want to do that," said homeowner Richard Mullen.
"We don't get excited anymore one way or the other," said homeowner Dudley Drake.
Tonight's meeting goes from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the Kern County Administrative Building located at 1115 Truxtun Aveune. The public is encouraged to attend.
