> IIRC Bakersfield already is working to build CA-58 as a freeway along
> an alignment very close to 7th Standard Road from CA-99 to I-5. I
> think the EIS is completed, and construction is slated to begin in '06,
> but it was a while since I read about it. I could easily be wrong.

I think you are quite right but, alas, a bit obsolete. Not too long
ago, as nearly as I can tell (and I too could be wrong), somebody
decided the intersection with CA-99 was a show stopper and the whole
problem of what to do with segments 7 and 8 of CA-58 needed rethinking.
See for instance page 16 of
http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist6/planning...lldocument.pdf

Meanwhile, all I can do is suggest daytime headlights, high alertness,
following distances on the long side of prudence, moderate speeds, and
Plan B in one's back pocket even in fine weather, never mind during the
seasons and hours when the airborne oatmeal they call "tule fog" rolls
in...

Cheers,
--Joe