Updated Feb. 21 with new total numbers through December 2023
By WSDOT staff
In spring 2022 work began on the state's Right of Way Safety Initiative – now called the Encampment Resolution Program – a new partnership of state and local partners to find solutions for people living homeless on state highway rights of way.
This initiative is led by three state agencies – the state departments of Commerce and Transportation and the Washington State Patrol. It's a result of Gov. Jay Inslee's request to the Legislature earlier to address increasing safety issues along state highways. Our agencies do this work in partnership with numerous local governments and non-profit partners.
While homelessness isn't new on state lands, funding provided by Legislature this past session allows for new approaches and opportunities to augment city resources to provide shelter and housing options. Commerce has $143 million for a variety of services and types of housing, including $45 million from the initial legislative proviso.
The work has started in five counties: King, Pierce, Thurston, Snohomish and Spokane. Initial efforts are centered along some of our largest interstate corridors, but the ultimate goal is to expand these efforts as more funding and resources allow.
Early successes
This outreach and housing approach has been visible in King, Snohomish, Pierce, Thurston and Spokane counties this year, where we've had some early successes stabilizing and/or clearing some sites – some stretching over many sections of an interchange.
Since starting this work in June 2022, 33 sites total have been closed and cleared within the five counties as of Dec. 31, 2023, with outreach underway at several more while waiting for housing to become available. That includes work at one large site at Dearborn and I-5 in Seattle, on-going work at Spokane's Camp Hope and several other sites within the five counties. While not everyone living on an identified right of way site moves into the housing offered to them, those who do have had good outcomes. Of the more than 1,000 people who have accepted housing through the end of 2023, 78 percent of them remained housed as of Dec. 31.
Safety, partnerships and roles
The Right of Way Safety Initiative focuses on state highway rights of way because of the inherent safety risk these sites pose to anyone on them. Vehicles pass these locations at 70 mph or higher, regular inspections and access are needed, emergency and planned construction takes place, etc.
These areas are not safe places for anyone to be living, and the encampments make these areas unsafe for crews working on these sites, for passing motorists who can be distracted and the neighbors of these areas.
Our efforts are very much a partnership between the state agencies as well as local partners and that is vital because there are several steps that need to happen to clear an encampment and help people find shelter or housing. Those steps and the agencies who work on them are:
- Identify and offer shelter and services to people living at a site (local jurisdiction & service/outreach providers; funding offered by Commerce)
- Provide secure storage of their belongings (local jurisdiction & service/outreach providers)
- Ensure safety and security for people on site and work crews (local law enforcement & WSP)
- Restore and clean up the property (WSDOT)
Stopping the cycle is labor-intensive work
Homelessness is a challenging issue. We hear from people who are frustrated and want fast solutions, but we've found during recent years that connections to services and housing are necessary for stopping the cycle of displacement and encampment. This process takes time and work from skilled outreach teams.
Without this type of outreach, clearing an encampment merely displaces people to some other area of the community. Forcing people to move to another site is a quick, temporary action that is neither sustainable nor humane.
The state's Right of Way Safety Initiative allows for a new approach. The funding requires that housing be offered to the people living on any site we address, including outreach to individuals so we can find the best possible solution for them. This involves strong partnerships with local government and a wide swath of non-profit groups who can do that critical outreach work. This work starts long before a site is posted with a deadline for people to leave the site – and is already underway in various degrees in all five counties.
This type of work takes time, but it also allows us to make meaningful progress and put people on the path of long-term, permanent housing.
Moving forward
Each site and community are different, which is why it's so important to have meaningful, productive partnerships with local governments and outreach groups. In some cases, such as Spokane, that may mean fencing an area (for the security of those within the camp and the local neighborhood) while outreach takes place, in others it's identifying hotels or other sites that can be turned into long-term housing. It's usually a variety of approaches.
The local governments and outreach partners play key roles because they're able to identify their local needs as well as have the connections with area providers who can help meet those needs on the ground.
This work doesn't happen overnight, but we are looking forward to making more progress in the coming months which will help bring people inside as well as remove the safety risks from encampments on rights of way.
