Homeless asked to leave as Jungle sweep is planned this month

Seattle and Washington officials are planning to clear out the infamous Jungle where there are multiple homeless encampments line I-5. The Jungle sweep will happen by early October.

The official date is Oct. 11, by 8 a.m. That’s when crews with the Washington State Department of Transportation and the City of Seattle will begin moving through the East Duwamish Greenbelt — what the city calls the Jungle. A series of “Notice and Order to Remove All Personal Property” signs have been posted around the camps to spread word of the coming Jungle sweep.

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“Multiple agencies are at work here,” said Travis Phelps with WSDOT. “There are people from Seattle, the Union Gospel Mission, along with state department of transportation crews, and others. Step one took place today … we’ve been posting notice giving folks 10 days to leave the area before the area turns into a major construction site.”

Jungle sweep

The notice states that heavy machinery that is coming poses serious risk of personal injury:

This is not an authorized area for storage or shelter. Materials will be removed starting the date and time posted above. Personal belongings removed after that date will be available for pick up on weekdays for 60 days.

The notice states that more information is available by calling the Seattle customer service bureau. And it also refers people to the Union Gospel Mission for further support.

Phelps credits the Union Gospel Mission with assisting people to leave before the Jungle sweep. He says there are now about 38 people left in the encampments. He expects them to comply and leave in time.

“Once folks have moved out and we begin our work we are going to be building a large access road that runs adjacent to I-5 so that emergency responders and other crews can access this area in a faster way in the future than we can today,” Phelps said.

WSDOT will also inspect I-5 — something the agency has not been able to do with the encampments and the issues surrounding the area ever since a shooting and murder in a camp this year.

“The inspection of I-5 through here, it’s aging, It’s about 50 years old,” Phelps said. “We’ve had to defer some of the inspections since February when a lot of the issues with this area started. Now we are going to continue with that inspection.”

The Seattle parks department will also assist with the Jungle sweep in its own way — by clearing vegetation from land it owns along the freeway. Phelps said that will increase views into the area.

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