Impact of Homeless Encampments on State Department of Transportation Right of Way

Abstract

Homelessness is a severe problem in the United States. Homelessness is severely stigmatized in our society as it is driven largely by systemic and racist attitudes in our country. This is also a considerable issue for state Departments of Transportation (DOTs). Homeless encampments regularly form on state DOT right of way, creating significant safety issues for the travelling public, DOT employees, and the homeless population themselves. Currently, state DOTs typically remove encampments when they are deemed to be too hazardous, cause damage to DOT assets, or block efforts to maintain the roadway. To remedy this issue, state DOTs typically remove these encampments from the right of way working with other local agencies. Studying current state DOT practices, this was defined as the ‘multi-agency approach’. This approach entails state DOT maintenance employees partnering with local human service and law enforcement agencies to aid in removing these camps. By partnering with these local agencies, DOT employees use their expertise in addressing DOT assets which complements the human interaction expertise of the other agencies to make the removal process both as safe and equitable as possible. There is room for improvement in the multi-agency approach, and as such, recommendations were found to improve the response to homelessness on state right of way. These can be applicable to both state DOTs as well as broader decision makers. Homelessness is not an issue that is going to recede in the near future and as such it is everyone’s duty to work to address this pressing issue.