Lamont marked the completion of new sidewalks in front of 260 homes with a tape-cutting ceremony on Di Giorgio Road and Rose Street, giving the unincorporated Kern County community a stretch of safer pavement years in the making. Community leaders say the new walkways finally give families a secure place to walk and kids a safe spot to wait for the school bus, rather than standing in dirt or alongside traffic.
The celebration, first reported by 23ABC News Bakersfield, comes after residents pushed for infrastructure fixes in a community the station describes as unincorporated and predominantly made up of farmworker families. Beyond the sidewalks themselves, the project included storm drainage designed to cut down on flooding and reduce the dust that regularly kicks up along Lamont's streets, according to community leaders cited in that report.
Kern County Public Works manager Yolanda Alcantar said the sidewalk work is the latest piece of a $55 million investment in Lamont, per the same report. That figure frames the newly finished sidewalks as one chapter in a larger, ongoing effort to modernize infrastructure in a community that has long dealt with neglected roads and limited large-scale retail options.
Years of Organizing Behind the Ribbon-Cutting
The push for better sidewalks traces back to organizing by Comite Progreso de Lamont, the resident group led by president Diana Mireles. The committee brought 13 road-related demands to Kern County, and ten of them have now been completed, the station's report notes. Mireles, who according to CRPE has served as a committee member for 12 years and now leads it as president, told 23ABC that public projects take time, but with patience and collaboration, they are possible.
CRPE credits Comite Progreso de Lamont with leveraging millions of dollars in community investments over the years, spanning sidewalks, parks, air-quality improvements and efforts to address street flooding. That track record lines up with Kern County Public Works' own list of active pedestrian infrastructure, which includes the Di Giorgio Bike Path and Sidewalk Project among its current countywide transportation initiatives.
A Community Still Waiting on More
Lamont's sidewalk gap has been a known issue for close to a decade. Back in 2018, KVPR reported that the Lamont Pedestrian Improvement Project — funded by a $2.1 million Caltrans Active Transportation Program grant awarded in 2016 — was designed to build sidewalks, crosswalks and curb ramps across the community, with plans for 4.4 miles of new sidewalk over 23 weeks of construction. That earlier phase was also expected to bring two miles of new curb and gutter, a half acre of asphalt pavement, and 110 new driveways benefiting roughly 400 residents, according to KVPR.
Lamont's infrastructure challenges have drawn attention well beyond sidewalks. The Pew Charitable Trusts has noted that rural areas like Lamont face especially high rates of asthma, obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer, underscoring why advocates have pushed hard for projects that cut down on dust and improve conditions for walking and biking. Pew also reported that nearly $2 million had previously been committed to sidewalks and other pedestrian improvements in the neighborhood.
The frustration over unfinished infrastructure hasn't been limited to sidewalks alone. Residents from Lamont, Arvin, Delano and La Colonia urged the Kern County Board of Supervisors in the spring to prioritize road repairs, improved lighting and signage, and fixes for chronic flooding, according to Citizen Portal. In response, Supervisor Parlier announced a roughly $31 million contract to improve Wheat Patch Highway, with county staff saying design and investigation work was already underway.
Not an Isolated Project
Lamont isn't the only small Kern County community pressing for these kinds of upgrades. In La Colonia Mexicana, a small community just south of Shafter, the county broke ground on a $2 million sidewalk project that will construct just shy of one mile of curbing and sidewalks, funded through Assembly Bill 617, a state program focused on improving air quality in disadvantaged communities. Kern County Public Works Director Joshua Champlin said that project is meant to give residents better walkability and stronger interconnectivity within their own community, echoing the same goals voiced by Lamont leaders over the new Di Giorgio Road and Rose Street sidewalks.
