SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Tuesday Update:
A CalTrans spokesperson said that the agency is working on a timeline and not planning to move individuals until construction is ready to begin. The spokesperson said the agency is working with the city to find housing for people living in the encampments.
Original Story:
More than 300 unhoused people have just two weeks before a multi-million-dollar highway widening project is built on top of their encampment.
Sacramento city leaders are trying to figure out where to relocate the homeless encampments that are currently below the Highway 50 overpass along X and W street.
The encampments are in the way of the Caltrans Highway 50 expansion project. The project will add more HOV lanes to the highway among other improvements.
The plan right now is to use FEMA money to house some people into motels or temporary housing.
Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela hopes Caltrans will allow the remaining people to essentially live around the construction site in a designated safe camping spot.
“Our hope is CalTrans won’t need the full breadth of the lot,” said Valenzuela. "They are going to need a lot of it but the strip along W and X street that is away from the underneath of the freeway could potentially be a campsite."
The temporary safe camp sites are a band-aid fix for now. The city’s long-term plan is to house people at the new 100 bed Shelter off Broadway and Alhambra. Unfortunately, Councilwoman Valenzuela says there’s been some construction delays at the federal level.
“Had the Trump administration not slowed construction down it would have been open in time,” says Valenzuela.
Construction on the shelter has resumed and is expected to be open this summer. The City is expecting an answer from Caltrans sometime this week to see if the temporary safe camping spots will work.
The homeless crisis in Sacramento is growing and its most vulnerable residents say they are left with few resources. ABC10 Originals looks into who is responsible.
