Crews begin clearing encampment under Ship Canal Bridge in Seattle

SEATTLE — A longstanding homeless encampment under the Ship Canal Bridge in north Seattle was cleared on Monday.

The area under Interstate 5 was called a priority site by the King County Regional Homeless Authority due to widespread safety issues and its proximity to the John Stanford International School.

A woman helping her friends move told KIRO 7 that the clear-outs are always hard, but in this case, everyone did get shelter.

“Yeah, everybody here got housing, and they’re already in their places. Like, they got keys yesterday, which is incredible,” she said. “But to watch all of our stuff just kind of get, you know, shredded … that hurts.”

It is one of a half-dozen sites that have been cleared since the state provided $50 million in funding to the KCRHA as part of its rights-of-way safety initiative to provide housing and services for those living in “certain state-owned rights of way.”

The KCRHA says outreach staff will work with anyone who shows up at the site to provide information on services and ensure that they know no camps will be allowed to start there again.

The agency and its partners are also working at another site in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District, where 51 people have already moved inside.

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