State cites pedestrian safety as reason for clearing multiple Anchorage homeless encampments near roads

The state Department of Transportation has cleared out several homeless encampments near busy, state-controlled roadways in Anchorage over the last two weeks. In a statement, the state cited “significant public safety risks,” including a recent spike in fatal pedestrian-vehicle crashes, and the city’s opening of winter shelters as reasons for removing the camps.

It’s the first time in recent years that the department has moved homeless campers off of state right-of-ways in Anchorage, according to Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities spokesperson Shannon McCarthy. While homeless residents have camped on some transportation department right-of-ways in the past, “it has not been to this scale,” she said.

“This is the first time that I’m aware of that we’ve had camps, like, inside of controlled access facilities, which is like the New Seward Highway in particular — and people right up onto the road,” McCarthy said.

Crews dismantled an encampment of about 20 to 30 shelters set up between the northbound on-ramp and Alaska Career College at Seward Highway and Tudor Road, according to the department.

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At the intersection of Seward Highway and 36th Avenue, the state cleared out about 20 to 25 shelters located on all four sides of the intersection.

The department pointed to a fatal crash near the same intersection on Sept. 20 that killed 79-year-old Ambrose Aguchak. The location saw “substantial pedestrian traffic due to nearby encampments,” the state transportation department said in the statement.

“This tragic incident underscored the significant risks of pedestrian crossings outside of marked and unmarked crosswalks and in violation of” state statute, the statement said. “Rising pedestrian fatalities in Anchorage this year heightened the urgency for immediate intervention to mitigate such risks.”

Other locations were Minnesota Drive and International Airport Road, where a few shelters were set up “within the cloverleaf interchange” but were no longer occupied; along Benson Boulevard between Spenard Road and Arctic Boulevard; and an unoccupied camp at the Seward Highway beneath the Campbell Creek Bridge, the department said.

The department will be clearing trees from the areas at Seward and Tudor and International and Minnesota, according to McCarthy, and has cleared trees from Seward and 36th Avenue.

“We must prioritize measures to prevent further crashes and reduce the risks to individuals living near or attempting to cross the highway,” the department said.

Separately from the state, the municipality has cleared a total of 12 encampments since July 1, according to Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance’s office.

McCarthy said in the emailed statement that the transportation department coordinates with the municipality to enforce laws in state right-of-ways and had been “working throughout the summer to provide notice” to the campers. The decision to clear them came from DOT leadership, and the department began work after the Anchorage Assembly’s approval last month of a contract for 200 winter shelter beds.

Working with local service organizations, the Anchorage Police Department’s HOPE Team helped move four people at the Tudor and Seward encampment into substance abuse treatment and six people into shelter, according to APD spokeswoman Shelly Wozniak.