County making good on promise to find workable route for Lake Ming bike loop

Sep. 27—It was barely one year ago that a planned extension of the Kern River bike path, which would have looped around the Kern River Golf Course, sliced out of bounds.

After undergoing environmental study, mapping and planning, the county-prepared project was rejected in the 11th hour after operators of the golf course objected — and others agreed.

But on Monday, all that seemed forgotten as Kern County Supervisor Mike Maggard, Kern County Public Works Director Samuel Lux and a couple of dozen others gathered near the shores of Lake Ming to celebrate the groundbreaking of the newest version of the Lake Ming Bike Path.

"This is exciting. This path has been in the works for about three years," Lux told the gathering. "We started applying for funds in 2019. It took us quite a bit of time and effort to figure out what we were going to do and how we were going to get it through the area."

The project, which is part of the Kern River Specific Trails Plan approved in 2003, will complete the Kern River Parkway alignment, provide a continuous loop around Lake Ming, and complete the goal for a lake-to-lake bike path in Kern County.

Once the Lake Ming Bike Path is complete, there will be more than 30 miles of continuous Class I and Class II bike infrastructure from Lake Ming in the east to the Buena Vista Aquatic Recreational Area southwest of Bakersfield, Lux said.

"I wanted to thank Mike Maggard," he said. "Without him, this probably would not have gotten through."

Lux also thanked Maggard's Chief of Staff Jeff Flores, Kern COG, other county departments, and the city of Bakersfield — "without them, we wouldn't have been able to get some of the funding" — as well as the Kern River Parkway Foundation, the Kern Audubon Society, Bike Bakersfield and the Kern Wheelmen.

Bike Bakersfield Planning and Policy Director Cindy Parra lauded the project's spirit of collaboration, which involved both communication and compromise.

"I hope everybody gets out and gets on their bike," she said. "This will be a great amenity."

When it is finished the project will be a Class I path, a separate paved trail for use by bicyclists and pedestrians. Class I paths are typically 10 feet wide with shoulders on each side to allow for two-way traffic. They are Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant, provide a safer option than riding or walking on the side of a road and are family-friendly.

While the county's official time frame gives a December deadline for completion, Lux told The Californian that December is his "worst-case scenario."

"I hope the paving will be done in early November," he said.

Public Works is using about $464,000 in Transportation Development Act funding from Kern COG to construct the Lake Ming Bike Path, according to a news release from Public Works. In total, the project will cost some $900,000 with Kern County Public Works shouldering nearly half the cost.

"KernCOG's concern for continuity in the bike network was the nexus that sparked investment into furthering access around Lake Ming for county residents to enjoy nature through safe pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure," Kern County Public Works Manager Yolanda Alcantar said in the news release.

Maggard put it in more down-to-earth terms.

"I don't know if you've ever ridden the bike path," said Maggard, who does ride the path, "but if you start here and go all the way out to I-5, Enos Lane, you'll see a vast variety of things to look at.

"There's of course the river, and right up here at the north end of the lake you might see a bald eagle, you might see beaver, you'll certainly see coyotes," he said.

"Sometimes you'll see a bird come down and dip in the lake and pull a fish out."

And as Maggard described the moments he has experienced on the bike path, moments witnessing the glory of nature's bounty, it became clear why he has supported each section of the path and other amenities that help and encourage children and families to make similar connections with the best Kern County has to offer.

"Most of Kern County has never been here to experience that," he said. "So one of the things this is going to do is make that more accessible."

Reporter Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.