We’ve all seen large homeless encampments beneath freeway overpasses in SoMa and the Mission, and Mayor Lurie just got the green light from Caltrans to start clearing encampments at eight major overpasses and entrance ramps.
It seems that for decades, there have always been pretty sizable homeless encampments around the Route 101 overpass at Cesar Chavez Street. Ditto for the South Van Ness and 13th Street overpass for Route 101, not far from Rainbow Grocery. And the City of San Francisco has not cleared those encampments, because the areas under overpasses, and alongside on-ramps and off-ramps, are technically the property of the California Department of Transportation, better known as Caltrans.
But KGO reports that SF Mayor Daniel Lurie has just struck a deal with Caltrans allowing the city to clear encampments under overpasses. The arrangement was reportedly signed on Wednesday, and per KGO, city workers started clearing areas on Thursday morning.
When you enter San Francisco, you should see safe, clean streets. Too often, our freeway on and off ramps have fallen short. Thanks to a new agreement with Caltrans, the City now has the authority to clean state highway sections and clear encampments. This will help us connect… pic.twitter.com/fnj9528jBh
— Daniel Lurie 丹尼爾·羅偉 (@DanielLurie) August 27, 2025
"The first thing and the last thing people see are our on-ramps and off-ramps and I want those spaces to reflect the beauty of San Francisco,” Lurie told KGO. “And now we are going to be able to do that.”
The agreement singles out eight so-called hot spots for encampments, and those 101 overpasses at Cesar Chavez Street and 13th Street in SoMa that we mentioned are among them. There are four other 101 overpass hot spots identified for clearing, as well as a couple around or under I-80. The locations are detailed at the 1:17 mark of the KGO video above.
"If we are going to resolve an encampment, we do the public notifications and then we will go in several days later with a multi-agency team,” Public Works director Carla Short said to KGO. She added that Public Works employees would be “leading with services first and offering shelter and help and ultimately cleaning the area.”
We’ve of course heard these statements about encampment clearings when London Breed was in office, and it is arguable whether those efforts made a serious dent. As Tenderloin Housing Clinic executive director Randy Shaw told KGO in the same segment, "Before we claim some major victory, let's say this is a good start, and then let's see each other in three months and see if a difference has been made."
And recall how it went with the clearing of encampments on Caltrans-owned land during the long saga of the Wood Street encampment in West Oakland, which took about five years and was drawn out by a great deal of courtroom drama.
Image: SAN FRANCISCO - JANUARY 25: Homeless people set up camp under a freeway overpass January 25, 2010 in San Francisco, California. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced ambitious plans during his recent State of the City address to reduce the city's overall homeless population by one third and the street population by one half before being termed out of office in two years. Over 6,500 homeless people live on the streets and in shelters in San Francisco. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
