Dori: Homeless burrowing under I-5 is a failure of our politicians

When you’re driving up and down, I-5, the busiest freeway in the state, you should have a reasonable expectation that things are going to be safe.

But after I saw a story about how the homeless on Pacific Avenue down in the South Sound area are digging tunnels right up against the bridge pilings, it doesn’t look like our government is meeting that expectation.

RELATED: Homeless uproot brick, dig tunnels under I-5 overpass

Pacific Avenue is a freeway overpass — you can drive underneath the freeway in other words – – and in that covered area underneath the freeway, the homeless have burrowed, prying up big concrete blocks.

And when you see this, you realize that the homelessness issue might be undermining our busiest freeways in the state, and we’re doing almost zero about it. KIRO 7 TV talked with Jesse Schlottman, who works nearby and has seen the damage this homeless tunneling project has done underneath I-5.

“I do drive by there once a day on average, and it seems like every time I drive by, it gets worse,” he said.

Here’s what’s shocking to me: WSDOT’s response to all of these, as told by KIRO 7 reporter Shelby Miller:

WSDOT says they need law enforcement’s help. I called Olympia police, and was directed to Washington State Patrol. They say WSDOT owns the property, and it’s their responsibility to add signs telling people they can’t live there, before troopers can start kicking people out. They called this ‘an ongoing problem that’s expensive to clean up.’

You know what that is? It’s a lot of government circular talk.

So the reporter called Olympia police, because it’s on Pacific Avenue underneath I-5. They say, “that’s Washington State Patrol’s responsibility.” Washington State Patrol says “we can’t do anything until WSDOT puts up a sign in a fence that says you can’t burrow tunnels under here.”

So, the state patrol is not doing anything about it. WSDOT apparently is doing nothing because this has been a growing problem, and even if they can get them out, it’ll be only temporary.

We are sitting on a disaster here, with the homeless burrowing tunnels in the foundational undergirding of I-5.

My colleague Jason Rantz on KTTH had a story about how homeless residents in an encampment started a huge garbage fire, right next to a natural gas pipeline under I-5. He heard from Seattle Fire that they are deeply concerned that I-5 could be in jeopardy from these homeless fires.

RELATED: Seattle files permit for secret homeless camp

That’s what happened in Atlanta with an entire chunk of freeway was unusable, and was destroyed because some homeless people set fire to flammable materials right underneath their freeway.

So my question is: Are we doing anything about this, or are we just going to wait until there’s a similar tragedy?

The Navigation Team told Jason’s show that they’ve had internal discussions about the fires underneath the freeway, and how close they are to these natural gas pipelines. They’re trying to clear the encampments, but soon as they do anything, they just spring right back up.

So, I’m just putting out the word out. Until we have state agencies that can start controlling this problem — and as your kids and mine drive up and down I-5 — remember that the failure of our politicians is a contributing factor to a really dangerous growing situation underneath our freeways.

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