ARDEN-ARCADE, Calif. — For years, residents in Arden-Arcade spoke out against the growing number of tent encampments along the Alta Arden Expressway and the dangers it posed.
As acts of violence have also recently been reported at encampments in the area, residents wanted to bring an end to the situation.
"We like it here, you know, this was just a problem that just seemed to hang on and hang on, and we couldn't get any kind of action on it," resident Andy O'Hara told ABC10. "The thing that concerned me was the danger aspect. Alta Arden Expressway is called an 'expressway' for a reason. It gets a lot of high speed traffic in both directions."
The activity brewing along the expressway sparked many residents to start calling on elected officials to resolve the problem.
Months later, community members are now reporting the tent encampments have recently been cleared from along the highway.
"As far as the Alta Arden Expressway, right now, the problem has been removed and we're delighted. We're happy to see we feel a lot safer going out there," said O'Hara.
According to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors District 3 Office:
- 27 unhoused residents met with county behavioral health and outreach workers
- 12 unhoused residents were placed into shelter housing
- 6 unhoused residents were assessed or scheduled for behavioral health assessments
- 2 unhoused residents were placed into behavioral health programs.
- Unhoused residents who remained were told to leave the area and they agreed not to return
But the road to get there wasn't easy.
Fight for Alta Arden Highway
As a retired California Highway Patrol captain, O'Hara said he recognized encampments along the Alta Arden Highway needed to be cleared for traffic to run unimpeded.
"We kept throwing some suggestions and getting no response. Finally, we went to one of the Sacramento County supervisors' meetings," he said.
O'Hara and at least three other neighbors took the podium at the Aug. 9, 2022 Board of Supervisors meeting to voice their concerns directly.
"In addition to the safety of the homeless people living on Alta Arden Expressway, the seniors who live in that area are very much at risk," Susan Abrams said Aug. 9, 2022. "I am very concerned about our disabled people, our homeless people—people who don't have a voice."
District 3 Sacramento County Supervisor Rich Desmond said the issue of moving an encampment of residents is a complex one.
"It's not the same as an encampment that's on a curb," he said. "There was someone who was killed there, they were hit by a DUI driver. I've talked to the CHP about that in depth, and I agree with you, it is an ongoing traffic safety hazard."
Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District responded to reports as recent as April 2022 of vehicles driving into tent encampments along Alta Arden Expressway with fatal consequences.
Despite the grim description of the expressway encampments, residents say most of them lingered through the end of 2022 and January 2023.
Until one day, O'Hara said he noticed the Alta Arden Expressway was void of the longtime tent encampments that once dotted the area.
"I brought together staff from our County Office of Homeless Initiatives, Department of Transportation, sheriff’s office and the district attorney’s office to prepare a plan to address the issue," Desmond told ABC10 Monday. "I appreciate the residents in the area who continue to communicate with my office about the camps along Alta Arden and other areas in the County."
WATCH MORE: Police investigating deadly officer-involved shooting at Holiday Inn Express in Elk Grove
