(Image: CHS)
An area at the base of Capitol Hill a Seattle Police officer recently called a ” a no man’s land populated by the homeless, mental cases, drug addicts and sundry criminals” is getting a clean-up. Wednesday, WSDOT said it is planning five I-5 sweeps to clear out debris and refuse that builds up from the population of people that choose — or have no choice but — to live in the areas hidden away along the interstate.
The August 10th WSDOT clean-ups include the Pine overpass, below Harborview, east of the James St off ramp, Yesler at 8th Ave, and I-5/Jackson.
At the Pine overpass, the chain-link fence erected by WSDOT to keep people out from under the street above I-5 is permanently bowed from people crawling over the top. In the shadows can be seen cushions and discarded sheets and blankets, garbage and the occasional person moving in and out of the site. Activity tends to be limited during the day when police are more likely to take note of the trespassers. It can be a dangerous area as this recent assault report and accidents like this fall attest.
The clean-ups are irregularly scheduled and seem to be a product of when the various involved agencies can make time to clear the spaces of everything from garbage to human waste to drug paraphernalia and needles. You can report issues to WSDOT’s maintenance team here.
A WSDOT representative said the need for a Pine overpass clean-up became clear last week when SPD responded to a man found dead in the area near Minor and Pine. CHS posted about the man’s death here. A person who works with homeless in the area said Jeff died of an existing heart condition — the police report on the incident notes that he was a heroin user and that there were “many discarded needles, ‘cook cans’ and crack pipes” at the scene when the man was found dead by a woman also living in the overpass area on the morning of August 4th.
As part of the sweep process, SPD makes contact with people who have been living in the closed-off areas and will tell them they need to clear out. Sometimes, East Precinct will even post flyers prior to a clean-up, SPD tells us.
CHS learned of the Pine clean-up via this week’s Twitter-based media event that featured two East Precinct bike officers tweeting from their beat.
Not everything about the outreach to people under the overpasses is goodwill, of course. Often, the officers will make arrests as people are checked for warrants and the “safety” of the area is assessed.
Once an area is cleared of people, the actual clean-up work falls to the Department of Corrections which is contracted by WSDOT to handle the dirty job. With workers trained in handling potentially dangerous drug refuse and human waste, DOC crews will spend the day clearing the areas of debris. WSDOT will also eventually fix the chain link fence but it will inevitably be bowed again.
Perhaps a concrete wall or steel pylons driven into the ground around the bases of the bridges would create a difficult enough barrier – unlike chain link fencing – to help keep these areas clear of these problems.
That’s just plain gross. I hope those WSDOT workers wear hazmat suits.
seriously. someone give those workers a bonus.
those street junkies will be back in less than a week
Our government tends to avoid talking about homeless problems because we have no money for it. But, I want to say we should look at what Zurich, Switzerland has done with harm reduction drug programs and Seattle could change and truly represent progressive leadership. We are the only city in the United States, perhaps, capable of it…
So they sweep them out, clean-up the area, and then what? The houseless will just move to their next place of shelter because what else are they do. You can place barriers, fences, barbed wire,etc… but they will still find a way to get around and make shelter where ever they can. I guess it would be nice if they respected the placed they stay and maybe it would not be as big of a deal.
Where do you suggest they go?
Milwaukee?
This breaks my heart. I agree with another capitol hill dude, harm reduction programs are where it’s at. these people need more resources and shouldn’t be treated like scum.
Simply make the spot less attractive for them. For example, mount an industrial strength loudspeaker under the bridge — well out of reach — and blast Verdi operas 24/7. I guarantee that place will be deserted.
Let’s use some creativity, people.
I certainly don’t have any simple solutions to homelessness either, but the callous disdain some of the posters show on here is really pretty sad. So you clean the place up, herd them elsewhere, etc. Then what? Where should they go? Should we just kill them all? Geeze, some of you people are just such self-absorbed f**king assholes.
i think washington state needs to stop welcoming trash with open arms
most of the losers that hang out here are aggressive and threatening
one night one of these p.o.s. junkies grabbed me by the arm (he was obv high)
he tried to grab my bag as he was yelling “i know you have booze in there!”
he could take a hot shot of bleach mixed with heroin and i wouldn’t care at all
Jim98122x, if you really feel so passionate about these people’s situations, then I suggest you house them yourself. But when they constantly litter and ruin things around the community – not to mention making a menace of themselves (see Concerned Citizen above) and being a constant nuisance (how many of the SAME panhandlers do you see along Broadway everyday?) – then we ALL have a problem and it has to be fixed.
Letting people just do as they please, regardless of their circumstances, isn’t sustainable. Yes, some people have mental illness issues that cause their situations. Yes, others have drug habits (doing drugs is a CHOICE by the way) that cause their circumstances.
When the actions of these people impact the rest of us, there is no shame in pushing back and saying, “No, you will not ruin the community and neighborhood that the rest of us contribute to through our taxes, spending choices, and other decisions. This isn’t your playground.”
I don’t owe any panhandler a dime, nor does anyone else. Frankly I wish people would stop giving them money as one way to abate these problems.
I am willing to support the programs and agencies that aim to help these folks. Are these all magnificent and wonderful? No, but they offer a better option.
The problems are more fundamental than where the person sleeps/eats/shits/shoots up. It comes down to personal responsibility and the poor decision making skills these people have. They can be educated out of it given the right environments but THEY have to choose to step into those programs to make it happen.
Handing them a dollar only exacerbates a bad situation. Helping them learn how to earn a dollar fixes it.
I’m not advocating handing them money or facilitating their panhandling. Their problems are complicated and as you mention include all kinds of things such as mental illness. Yes, it’s a big societal problem and there’s no easy solution. But kicking them out and thinking that fixes anything sure isn’t it.
Flippantly suggesting that I house them myself totally misses the point. Fencing off where they’re staying now, and otherwise corralling them out like so many feral animals does nothing to solve anything. Treating them like like shit, throw them out, and think your problem is solved? As mmmmm said, they will just disperse to somewhere else and you’ve done nothing but displace the problem. What does that fix?
None of these people have nice Belltown condos, but are sleeping on dirt and pooping under the bridge just because they think it’s way more fun. You kick them out, it’s not like they’ll just decide, “oh, well, I guess I’ll just clean myself up and stop being homeless from now on”.
My point IS about callousness. And yes, you’re right, it IS about having a healthy society. Pushing them off to somewhere else doesn’t do anything to promote a healthy society either. You just think the problem is fixed because you don’t see it anymore. Now it’s someone else’s backyard, but it’s still there.
I don’t have any grand solutions to homelessness that will easily fix the problem either, but let’s not fool ourselves that this does anything but briefly shift the problem to somewhere else. Maybe we SHOULD just shoot them?
I don’t know if noise is much of a deterrent when they are already kicking it 3 feet from a major freeway.
Noise?? I’m talking La Traviata, baby. 130 decibels of it.
It’s hard to imagine that WSDOT cannot install a fence there that will be truly impenetrable. I hope they don’t just put up the same old thing because that has not proven to be an effective barrier.
Also, I take issue with the statement that some homeless people have “no choice” but to live in areas like this. Of course they do! Seattle has many shelter beds and, except for perhaps a few nights a year, there are spaces available. There is one simple reason why homeless choose to live outdoors…they can continue to drink and use drugs.
Agreed. There is choice. Folks can make up as many excuses and whine about their plight..but there is a choice to use drug and booze. If we stop enabling this, perhaps things might change.
Another vote for shooting them!