Q: When is the Super Wal-Mart on Panama Lane going to open?
- Jessica Potter

A: Unofficially, Oct. 28, said Bakersfield Planning Director Jim Eggert. That’s based on city inspections of the site and from talking to construction personnel.

Wal-Mart should get temporary occupancy to begin stocking the store any time now, he said.

Multiple calls to Wal-Mart over the last several weeks (we keep getting asked about this and the Gosford Road Super Wal-Mart) have not been returned.

Q: I have noticed construction on the southeast corner of Panama Lane and Stine Road. Does anyone know what is being built there?

- Janett Mendoza

A: This is part of a newer commercial center, Eggert said. Permits were recently issued for construction of a fueling station/convenience market/car wash. It will complete what the city has approved for that center, he said.

Q: What are the “rules” on the bike path? I walk three mornings a week with two other women (we are all three over 70). We walk from three to five miles each day. We walk on the right side of the path and one usually walks ahead of the other two so we aren't three abreast. 

Cyclists sometimes pass us so close and so fast that if we so much as move our arms, we'd hit them and all of us would go flying. Some cyclists are very, very rude to walkers. Any rules of the road?

- Caroline O. Reid

A: There are no official rules, just an expectation that people use “common sense and courtesy to anybody,” said Allen Abe, assistant director of the Bakersfield Recreation and Parks Department.

Polite cyclists will slow down as they approach walkers and say something like “behind you” or “coming up on your left,” he said.

“There’s nothing written down,” Abe said. “Everybody should be courteous to everybody else.”

Q: Who is in charge of removing the broken glass off the roadway after a “major” (or any) vehicle accident?

- No name given

A: Tow companies are responsible for clearing out safety hazards such as car parts and oil/gas leaks, Bakersfield police traffic Sgt. Allan Abney said. Police service technicians carry brooms to help and street sweepers have been called out on major wrecks, he said.

But small glass bits generally disperse on their own, he said.
 

Editor’s note: We received this e-mail in reference to a recent Ask the Californian item:

“I am the outgoing lead pastor at Laurelglen Bible Church and the question to you by Forrest G. Wood in yesterday’s “Ask the Californian” obviously captured my attention, for it implied that we have no regard for the laws of the city. 

Several years ago we had a parking issue at the church and asked the city for permission to park on Ashe Road – permission which was granted to us, the evidence being that under the signs “No Parking At Any Time” are the smaller words “Except Sundays.”

Admittedly that exception cannot be seen while driving by, but it is there.

Please assure Mr. Wood and your readers that we do respect the laws of the land, state, county and city and that we did not park on Ashe Road until permission was granted by the city.

Thank you,
Roger Poppen

Ask The Californian appears on Mondays. Submit questions to asktbc@bakersfield.com or to The Bakersfield Californian, c/o Christine Bedell, P.O. Bin 440, Bakersfield, CA 93302.