Fresno mayor begins program for homeless on freeway embankments. Here’s how it works
Homeless outreach workers have begun speaking with people living on Fresno freeways in an attempt to get them housed and off embankments in the start of Project Off-ramp, Mayor Jerry Dyer said.
The effort is the first major action under the newly elected mayor and targets an estimated 250 people who have erected tents and begun sleeping on embankments and other unsafe areas along Highways 41, 180 and 168, according to Dyer.
“We want to stay away from any type of enforcement, citations,” he said at a Friday announcement. “We want to establish a rapport, get those individuals to voluntarily go to these (housing) locations.”
The project began in the area of Divisadero Street and Highway 41 and will work its way north. There are about 700 people who are on some piece of the freeway, but Dyer said the program is aimed at the 250 in the most dangerous and unsightly areas.
“The reality is people don’t have a right to live on the freeway,” he said. “It’s unsafe.”
The people living on the embankments have been given a seven-day notice, Dyer said. Some have already chosen to leave the area. It wasn’t immediately clear how many chose to take advantage of public housing.
There is room to house those living on embankments. The city of Fresno committed $6.8 million to buy a property on Motel Drive for Project Homekey, which buys up motels to house the homeless and give them access to mental health, substance abuse and other services, Dyer said.
Freeways are state property so city officials have worked with California Highway Patrol and state leaders to move the plan along, Dyer said. State Department of Transportation workers will also follow up to clean the freeways and repair any damage.
The Poverello House, Fresno Rescue Mission and other homeless advocates have teamed with the city to speak with the homeless.
“We don’t want it to be law enforcement. I don’t think that’s the appropriate thing to do, although we’ve done it for years,” Dyer said. “Quite frankly, the people that have the best rapport are those (homeless advocates).”
The commission on police reform last year recommended taking police officers off of the city’s homeless task force in hopes that it would reduce use-of-force. Dyer said the Project Off-ramp plan was not directly related to the recommendation.
Total homelessness in Fresno and Madera grew from 2,508 people in 2019 to 3,641 people in 2020, according to results from a point-in-time count — three months before the coronavirus pandemic hit the central San Joaquin Valley. The two counties share a Continuum of Care.
Dyer said Project Off-ramp, if successful, could extend to the homeless living anywhere in the city.
Makeshift housing isn’t only an eyesore, it has real potential to be unsafe, he said.
There were 618 fires along the freeway last year to which Fresno Fire Department responded. The state does not reimburse the city for fighting those fires.
Three people living on an embankment have been struck by a car and killed in recent months, according to Dyer.
“This is really about reclaiming the freeways and giving those folks living there an opportunity to be productive again and have housing and services,” Dyer said.
This story was originally published January 22, 2021 at 1:30 PM.
