What Is The KARGO Community Prosperity/Protection Study?
Kern COG is working with the community and stakeholders in Kern County to prepare the third study under the KARGO (Kern Area Regional Goods-movement Operations) initiative, which has the broad goal of assessing and planning for the growth of the goods movement industries in and through Kern County, planning for the transportation system to respond to these needs and reducing impacts of increased freight movements on our communities.
KARGO Community Prosperity/Protection Study
What Is The KARGO Community Prosperity/Protection Study?
Kern COG is seeking feedback for The Kern Area Regional Goods-movement Operations (KARGO) Community Prosperity/Protection Study to look at and move forward transportation projects that will help ensure continued goods movement in the region as we face more extreme weather events.
The KARGO Community Prosperity/Protection Study will look at Kern County’s transportation network’s durability in extreme weather events, identify improvements to strengthen the transportation systems, and identify funding opportunities for these projects.
These projects will ultimately help Kern County by…
• Ensuring high paying jobs in our region by attracting new high-tech industries, like logistics
• Finding funding solutions for transportation improvements
• Maintaining our roadways
• Ensuring safety, especially on rural highways
• Keeping our transportation system reliable in the face of more extreme weather events
• Identifying improvements that will continue to improve air quality
Constraints Kern County is Facing Today
Historically the oil industry in Kern County brought in billions of dollars annually and has brought hundreds of jobs to the region over the years. The county also has a longstanding agricultural heritage, with one in five jobs in the county being ag related in 2021. However, the oil and agriculture industries are being diminished and production is shrinking. This is a massive economic setback.
Potential Solutions
The economy is changing to industrial automation in Kern County. Industrial automation will create new opportunities for workers with the skills to operate and maintain automated systems. Improvements to technology and automation will not only boost the economy, but also create thousands of jobs for a modern Kern County in fields like aerospace, reshoring manufacturing and logistics, which will take advantage of our region’s unique and central characteristics.
What Does This Mean for Residents of Kern County?
The study will help identify co-benefits to our historically underserved communities such as low-cost educational training in emerging technology fields that lead to high-paying jobs. The study will also identify ways to build on our history, culture, and natural amenities that help promote tourism and more job opportunities.
The study will also identify roadway and freight rail network improvements, which will help extend the life of our roadways and improve connectivity throughout the county. Over time, we will build improvements to route trucks away from existing communities. This includes sensitive locations like schools and hospitals. By routing trucks away from our small towns, these communities will get their main streets back. It will help improve quality of life and economic vitality for the region.
Proposed Changes
DRAFT – Technical Analysis and Project Prioritization
Thank You for Your Feedback!
In July and August of 2024, we held a series of hybrid and virtual workshops throughout Kern County to get your feedback on the Kern Community Prosperity/Protection Study. This feedback will be integrated into our planning work and will help us help us create a dependable, more efficient, climate change resilient, community-thriving transportation system. Our engagement work included the following workshops, in addition to working with community-based organizations to help spread the word about the survey.
Wednesday, July 24: Cummings Valley
Monday, July 29: Tejon
Tuesday, July 30: Rosamond
Friday, August 2: Delano
Wednesday, August 14: West Kern Virtual Workshop
Thursday, August 22: East Kern Virtual Workshop
We had 59 in person and 33 virtual attendees at these events. Our team received a variety of feedback on priority climate resiliency improvements throughout the region, from heavy truck rerouting to wider sidewalks requests. Click here for a more detailed summary of feedback received during this phase of outreach.
Workshop Schedule
We will be holding another series of in-person and virtual workshops next year. Below are the tentative dates and locations for these meetings. Please check back for updates! If you would like to join our project mailing list, please contact us.
Week of May 12, 2025: Keene, CA
Week of May 12, 2025: Mojave, CA
Week of May 19, 2025: Shafter, CA
Week of May 19, 2025: Arvin, CA
TBD Virtual Workshops
Deliverables
DRAFT – Technical Analysis and Project Prioritization (Adaptation Mitigation/Co-Benefit Analysis Report) – January -2025
Previous Studies
- KARGO Phase II Final Report – June -2023
- KARGO Phase II Appendix – June 2023
- KARGO Phase 1 Final Report – 2021