City of Austin is Cleaning Out Homeless Communities
The Public Works Department for the City of Austin is working on cleaning up debris under various overpasses throughout Austin, including areas where homeless individuals have created small communities and camps. According to Fox 7 Austin, “the city said, while they work to find additional shelter options, protecting health and safety in those areas is a priority.”
Starting May 9th, Public Works began the process of cleaning out trash, furniture and other abandoned belongings from underneath city overpasses and bridges. It’s reported that for 90 days after the start date, the Public Works Department is keeping track of the cleanup process under 61 different highway overpasses.
Before the Public Works Department took over, the Texas Department of Transportation had been handling the clean-up efforts for almost three years, according to the Austin Monitor. The Texas Department of Transportation told the City of Austin they could no longer be responsible for underpass cleanups because they needed to direct their attention and budget to repairs and clean-up efforts after the flooding from fall of 2018.
Upon learning that the Texas Department of Transportation would no longer be handling the underpass cleanup, Public Works Director Richard Mendoza had this to say, “We understand that the situation has a lot of sensitivity and community awareness and we are responding as a city”.
While the City of Austin has now been tasked with maintaining the underpasses, they are trying to be thoughtful about the individuals experiencing homelessness who call the underpasses their temporary home.
Kyle Carvell, affairs manager for the Public Works Department for the City of Austin told Fox 7 Austin, “We do provide multiple-day notice in advance, because we do understand some of the items in those locations belong to individuals and we are sensitive to that,”.
The Public Works Department also told Fox 7 Austin that no people would be removed or arrested, and that belongings put in provided bags would not be touched by the cleanup crews.
According to KXAN, District One council member Natasha Harper-Madison is hoping that the financial shift of the cleanup from the Texas Department of Transportation to the Public Works department will help address the issue of homelessness in Austin.
Harper-Madison told KXAN, “My hope is that as city leaders, this will really give us the opportunity to put our heads together around more robust efforts to address homelessness,”.
The Public Works department is looking forward to a long-term solution as well.
Public Works Director Richard Mendoza told KXAN, “This is really treating the symptom of the problem, and, as we move forward and start enacting more long-term solutions, we’ll continue to secure the public safety and sanitation of our city,”.
Moving forward, hopefully the City of Austin can enact a more permanent, housing-focused solution for individuals experiencing homelessness in the Capitol city of Texas.
