City crews cleaning up homeless encampment near Southeast 44th

OKLAHOMA CITY ( KFOR ) — Clean up has started at a homeless encampment that has caught the eyes of a lot of drivers.

The city has started clean up under the overpass on I-35 and Southeast 44th Street.

Dale Kight passes the area almost everyday.

“I’m embarrassed to take anyone down there,” said Kight. “It’s an absolute mess.”

Kight’s concern is the amount of homeless people living under and around the bridge, as well as the trash they leave behind.

“It’s just unbelievable up in there, the mess and the trash,” said Kight.

News 4 first told you about this weeks ago and the city said they were aware of the encampment and had the area on their radar.

Friday morning News 4 saw volunteers with the ‘Key To Home Partnership’ beginning to clean it up.

The ‘Key to Home Partnership’ sent us the follow statement:

The Key to Partnership staff and outreach teams are working with folks experiencing homelessness in this area and across the City to help connect people to services and resources. The City is aware of an increased amount of trash and debris in the area and staff came out today to begin the cleaning process which will continue over the next few weeks. We appreciate the community’s patience as we work with people in the area to support their needs and connect them to services while also responding to community needs.

Erika Warren, Communications Manager

“The city will come out and clean it up and then in two or three days it will be back in the same condition that it was before and it’ll stay that way for three weeks until the city comes out again,” said Kight.

Kight said he hopes what he thought was a never ending situation, is finally resolved.

“I hope they do what they say they’ll do and keep it cleaned up,” said Kight.

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