Homeless encampments in the right-of-way along the 120 Bypass and Highway 99 through Manteca will soon be cleared quicker.
The City Council when they meet tonight will consider entering a three-year contract allowing the city to remove homeless encampments six days after notifying Caltrans.
Currently, the city contacts Caltrans that often takes up to 30 days to clear illegal encampment along freeways and within state right-of-way of interchanges.
Caltrans, in an average month, clears out 330 homeless encampments statewide.
Caltrans will reimburse the city $400,000 over the course of the three years to help defer the costs they incur with such cleanups. Anything beyond $133,333 a year will be on the city’s dime.
The cleanup will be done under the auspices of an encroachment permit the city has secured from Caltrans.
It also will allow the city to tackle graffiti and litter.
City staff and Community Resource Officers from the Manteca Police Department currently partner with Caltrans District 10’s Encampment Specialist Maintenance Superintendent to address encampments within the State rights-of-way. The agreement will allow the City and CROs to perform maintenance services, including debris, litter, and graffiti removal, under the State’s encroachment permit and not have to wait for Caltrans to become available,
Mayor Gary Singh lauded the Caltrans agreement noting it will allow the city to address homeless encampments along the freeways sooner instead of relying on Caltrans crews to become available that have to deal with similar issues in other cities such as Stockton, Modesto, Turlock, Lodi, and Tracy as well as perform other maintenance work related to freeways and highways.
Manteca, in the past two years, has augmented its own cleanup efforts of homeless encampments within the city by contracting with Manteca Property Services.
It doesn’t supplant city crews but rather enhances the city’s ability to clear debris from around the city including illegal homeless encampments.
The city conducts once a month quality of life sweeps in the evenings targeting illegal encampments that manpower from Manteca Property Services clear out while police get homeless to either go to the emergency shelter, move on, or possibly be cited for violating the city ordinances.
Caltrans has cleared 11,188 encampments in a three year period ending in July of 2024, according to the governor’s office. Gov. Gavin Newsom has personally attended some of those cleanups, wearing a baseball cap and gloves to help pick up trash left behind.
Newsom 11 months ago in a new order told other state agencies to clear out homeless encampments on land they are responsible to maintain.
Those clean ups — as well as what Manteca will be allowed to do locally with its encroachment permit into state right of way — will follow encampment policies Caltrans has used for several years to remove camps on highway on and off ramps, under overpasses and on other land maintained by the transit agency.
The encampment residents should be warned at least 48 hours before clearing a camp. They also are required to store residents’ belongings for at least 60 days, and to request services for displaced residents from local organizations. If an encampment poses an “imminent threat” to life, health, safety or infrastructure, the agency can remove a camp immediately.
