ODOT installs fences to curb homeless camping at I-5 overpass in Salem

Yahoo

15-03-2025

Homeless campers have long sought shelter at the Interstate 5 overpass on Market Street in Salem.
New fencing installed by the Oregon Department of Transportation aims to end that.
"It is permanent fencing to help to discourage illegal camping activities in the area," ODOT officials said. "It is unsafe for people to be so close to traffic."
Encampments regularly appear on Market Street under the overpass, which offers a large swath of covered, flat land. During the COVID-19 pandemic freeze on sweeps for homeless camps, dozens gathered on the north and south sides of Market Street.
Advocates, campers and officials have noted serious safety concerns.
Several pedestrians and cyclists were injured and killed in the area when camping peaked in 2021 on Market Street.
The roar of traffic and blaring horns make it near-impossible to hold a conversation and keep campers on edge. Some face harassment and are targeted by drug dealers and traffickers, advocates said.
More fencing is planned at other spots frequently used for camping on state land in Salem.
The $75,000 project on Market Street is not connected to the new fencing underway outside the ARCHES Project on Commercial Street in north downtown. Service providers have said that fencing is being erected to protect unsheltered people seeking services at ARCHES.
ODOT spokesman David House said crews clear the Market Street area every five to six weeks, as needed and when law enforcement is available.
Notices were posted for the camps along the I-5 corridor in Salem on Feb. 20, and the sweeps and cleaning took place on March 3.
The morning of March 5, crews asked three people within the planned construction zone to move for their safety. They were advised that construction would begin for fencing on the northside of Market Street a week later.
House said ODOT reached out to ARCHES, Helping Hands Resources, Resource Connections of Oregon, HOAP and Salem homelessness liaison Gretchen Bennett to visit the area during the project and to offer resources to the unsheltered who previously camped under the overpass.
Salem Police and Oregon State Police also patrol the area to address illegal activities.
Advocates noted a major shift in unmanaged camping away from downtown and to east Salem in the past year.
The city of Salem, responsible for camps in the city not on ODOT land, noted in its "Responding to Our Sheltering Crisis" updates that Lancaster Drive and its cross streets were the sites of more than 20 responses in late 2023 and early 2024.
Those living unsheltered have often been pushed out of housing or more secluded campsites.
"We have nowhere else to go," Emily Schelin said as she fixed a makeshift barricade blocking her from traffic under the I-5 overpass on Sunnyview Road in November.
She moved to the Sunnyview/Lancaster area in May after her campsite in a secluded spot near the highway was cleared. The site was out of view and gave her shelter from the rain.
The fencing on Market Street coincides with fencing being installed around the ARCHES Project on Commercial Street. Despite the timing, the two projects are not connected.
In August, the city approved up to $168,000 in grant funding for fencing around ARCHES and Coldwell Banker.
ARCHES officials said many of those gathering outside are not seeking services at their day center and can interfere with those who are seeking meals, housing services, showers and shelter. A survey of those camping around the building found less than 10% accessed ARCHES services.
According to a city staff report, employees and customers at Coldwell Banker noted daily safety concerns due to people gathered at their building entrance.
Officials with the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency, which oversees ARCHES, said the open parking lot and 24/7 access allow people to prey on unsheltered people via drug dealing, sex trafficking and harassment.
Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency Executive Director Jimmy Jones said, on the surface, the fences around ODOT land and ARCHES might seem similar and he understands the motives.
"What we're really trying to do is protect the homeless population from people that are trying to harm them," he said, referring to the fence around ARCHES.
ODOT's work will also keep people away from high-traffic areas where they're also at risk of being targeted by drug dealers, sex traffickers or struck by vehicles, Jones said.
"The other way of looking at it is that it feels injurious to the community in the sense that there are so few places to lay your head down and rest, and in the winter in particular, there's a reason people seek out overpasses," Jones said. "It's because it's sheltered from the weather. There're so few places, historically, that people can go and sleep in those conditions."
Jones said the installation of the fencing and sweeps in places like wooded and undeveloped ODOT land can push people into nearby neighborhoods.
He said he's long been critical of anti-homeless architecture, like fences. One protective measure can feel like a slippery slope to harsher measures, like spikes and boulders.
"The fences are not going to house a single person," Jones said. "They're not going to shelter a single person. It's not going to change the number of people outside. It's just going to change their location a little bit."
Barriers like fencing and borders have previously been used by ODOT to deter camping, a 2023 review of the department's response to camping concerns found.
Fencing has been used in several cities, including Portland, Eugene and Corvallis to discourage camping.
ODOT officials said the agency has been using fencing at underpasses for more than 30 years in Portland and 15 years in Eugene. The work started in Salem to be proactive and safe, officials said.
Fencing has already been installed on ODOT land on the east side of I-5 between Sunnyview Road and Market Street between the soundwall and a row of residential properties.
ODOT spokeswoman Mindy McCartt said more fences are planned in Salem.
"We are also installing fencing under the Front, Marion, and Center Street bridges," she said. "The Center Street Bridge fencing will be completed after next year's construction project is finished, while the other areas are planned for completion before July."
For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at [e-mail], call 503-910-6616 or follow on X at @wmwoodworth
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: ODOT puts up fences to curb homeless camping in Salem, Oregon