Workshops will help shape Kern's transportation, energy future

What do you see in Kern's transportation future?

That's the question the Kern Council of Governments is inviting the community to answer at one of 14 workshops it will host from March through June.

While feedback garnered during the events will be used to shape Kern Cog Directions to 2050 Regional Transportation Plan and accompanying community Energy Action Plans, administrative services director Robert Phipps said the workshops aim to get at bigger ideas, rather than discussions of specific projects.

"It's kind of a visioning process, but it does get down into investments of public funds," he said.

The Directions to 2050 plans detail how area jurisdictions will spend more than $5.3 billion in anticipated transportation and energy-efficiency funding over the next 28 years.

According to a Kern COG news release, more than 70 major highway, road maintenance, public transit, pedestrian, bicycle and energy-efficiency improvements are projected to be funded throughout Kern County over the next few decades.

Some of those have already been funded and are underway, while other projects are on what Phipps called "the wish list."

At the workshops, Phipps said, "usually what we do is we start with growth. The one thing we can say with certainty is we're expected to grow. How do we accommodate the growth?"

From there, Phipps said, meeting attendees can discuss their broader priorities.

"When we start with growth, you have to consider housing, natural resources, water, public services," Phipps said. "Single family dwelling requires more water, more land."

Attendees will also be able to participate in activities designed to help community members prioritize, like an exercise in which people will get a stack of chips, then they can "vote, essentially, with their cards or chips."

"The intent is to determine whether it's a greater public interest to spend more on public transportation versus congestion relief versus bicycle and pedestrian projects," Phipps wrote in an email, "whether a greater mix of housing types is a priority for future growth; or how important it is to put more freight on rail rather than trucks."

For more information and to test out some of the activities from home, visit www.directionsto2050.com.

Source: http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/business/x1282765894/Workshops-will-help-shape-Kerns-transportation-energy-future

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