One year after\u00a0entering\u00a0into a delegated maintenance agreement with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the City of San Diego is renewing and expanding the partnership to continue addressing unsafe encampments along freeway corridors near\u00a0downtown\u00a0while connecting people experiencing homelessness to shelter, housing\u00a0and services.<\/p>\n
Because\u00a0Caltrans\u00a0owns and\u00a0maintains\u00a0the\u00a0freeway\u00a0corridors, the delegated maintenance agreement\u00a0provides the City\u00a0necessary\u00a0access\u00a0to State property to address encampments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cKeeping our freeway corridors safe and clean while helping people move off the streets and into shelter is a top priority for my administration,\u201d\u00a0said San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m grateful to Governor\u00a0Newsom\u00a0for his support and to our partners at\u00a0Caltrans\u00a0for renewing this agreement so we can continue this important work together, build on the progress we\u2019ve made, connect more people experiencing homelessness with shelter and services, and deliver safer, cleaner freeway corridors for everyone who lives, works, and travels through San Diego.\u201d<\/p>\n
The renewed agreement\u00a0allows the\u00a0City\u00a0to continue removing trash and debris\u00a0along a five-mile stretch of\u00a0Caltrans\u00a0right-of-way\u00a0areas\u00a0near\u00a0Downtown.\u00a0The agreement\u00a0also expands the City’s maintenance authority to include litter removal, weed abatement and graffiti removal, allowing crews to address multiple maintenance needs during a single deployment rather than requiring separate responses.\u00a0During the first year of the agreement, City crews removed more than 413 tons of waste\u00a0in this area.<\/p>\n
City-funded homeless outreach teams will\u00a0also\u00a0continue to have access to the\u00a0right-of-way\u00a0areas\u00a0to provide shelter referrals and ongoing case management. Outreach services are conducted\u00a0prior to and\u00a0completely separate\u00a0from cleanup efforts. Since the\u00a0original\u00a0agreement took effect last year, 115 people have entered City-funded shelter programs, including at least 19 who have since moved into permanent housing.<\/p>\n
\u201cCaltrans\u00a0is pleased to continue this successful collaboration with the city of San Diego,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Caltrans\u00a0District 11 Director Ann Fox.\u00a0\u201cIt is simply not safe for people to live within our state right of way. The partnerships\u00a0Caltrans\u00a0has with the city of San Diego, and other cities throughout San Diego County, are invaluable in the work\u00a0Caltrans\u00a0does every day to address encampments.\u201d<\/p>\n
The City is also committing\u00a0financial\u00a0resources through this partnership, creating a\u00a0team dedicated to removing\u00a0debris\u00a0in this area.\u00a0The total estimated cost for the\u00a0City,\u00a0including\u00a0San Diego Police Department\u00a0staff working\u00a0time, is estimated at $800,000.\u00a0Under the agreement,\u00a0Caltrans\u00a0will reimburse the\u00a0City\u00a0for\u00a0services\u00a0related to the agreement.<\/p>\n
The City\u2019s Environmental Services Department will\u00a0continue\u00a0its\u00a0contract with nonprofit Urban Corps\u00a0for\u00a0waste removal\u00a0and\u00a0Clean Harbors is contracted to remove hazardous waste materials.\u00a0The City\u2019s Homelessness Strategies and Solutions Department currently works with Downtown San Diego Partnership to provide outreach in this area.<\/p>\n
What\u00a0Others\u00a0Are Saying:<\/p>\n
“This partnership has connected more than 100 people experiencing homelessness with shelter and supportive services, helping many break the cycle of homelessness while making a meaningful difference in Downtown San Diego\u201d,\u00a0said Councilmember Stephen Whitburn, who\u00a0represents\u00a0the area.\u00a0\u201cThese results show that when the\u00a0City, service providers, and community partners work together, we can reduce street homelessness and create cleaner, safer neighborhoods for everyone.”<\/p>\n
\u201cEncampments along our freeways and under overpasses\u00a0pose\u00a0a serious\u00a0hazard\u00a0to individuals staying there and to the thousands of San Diego residents and visitors driving along these routes,\u201d\u00a0said Environmental Services Deputy\u00a0Director\u00a0Franklin\u00a0Coopersmith.\u00a0\u201cRoutinely removing trash and potential hazards along these high-traffic freeways is a net-positive for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
“The partnership between the City of San Diego and\u00a0Caltrans\u00a0has been a tremendous asset to Downtown, and the renewal of the\u00a0delegated\u00a0maintenance\u00a0agreement reflects the success of that collaboration. Together,\u00a0we’ve\u00a0created cleaner, safer, and more welcoming gateways through enhanced maintenance, community cleanups, and outreach that connects people experiencing homelessness with available services,\u201d\u00a0said Betsy Brennan, President and CEO of the Downtown San Diego Partnership.\u00a0\u201cThis collaborative effort has also made it possible for the Downtown San Diego Partnership to launch our first-ever Adopt-A-Highway program, allowing us to help care for some of the first spaces people experience when they enter Downtown. We look forward to continuing this important work together.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe success of downtown San Diego is a shared responsibility, and meaningful improvements happen when partners\u00a0remain\u00a0committed for the long term. Extending this agreement allows critical work to continue and builds on the progress already made in some of the city’s most visible corridors, including\u00a0Petco\u00a0Park and the Ballpark District,\u201d\u00a0said the San Diego Padres.\u00a0\u201cThe Padres are encouraged by the continued cooperation between the City and\u00a0Caltrans\u00a0and support efforts that contribute to a cleaner, safer, and more vibrant downtown for all.\u201d<\/p>\n
The partnership with\u00a0Caltrans\u00a0covers the following spans of state property:<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Interstate 5 from the Coronado Bridge to Laurel Street (3.5 miles)<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 State Route 163 from Ash Street to Interstate 5 (0.4 miles)<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 State Route 94 from 17th Street to 30th Street (1.1 miles)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One year after\u00a0entering\u00a0into a delegated maintenance agreement with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the City of San…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417973,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[74,76,75],"class_list":["post-417972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}