The encampment-clearing focus returned to a spot that has been a repeated magnet for encampments Tuesday, with Caltrans and CHP personnel doing a sweep of those residing in and around the "hairball" where Cesar Chavez Street meets Potrero Avenue, Bayshore Boulevard, and multiple 101 on- and off-ramps.

As the Chronicle reports, the clearing of encampments under the "hairball" had been planned, and those residing there were given 72 hours notice as of Friday. The effort is part of Governor Gavin Newsom's earlier announced push to address encampments on state property — i.e. under freeway overpasses — and across all of California's major cities.

The paper noted that a few people could be seen lugging belongings and pushing shopping carts Tuesday, and they "appeared to be looking for new places to go as Caltrans workers began adding boulders and other deterrents to the former encampment sites that state officials said were key components of making sure the effort would last."

Newsom announced in May that he would be pushing cities to be more aggressive in the clearing of encampments — with his presidential aspirations no doubt a partial motivator for the effort. He even released text of a "model ordinance" that cities could adopt, with suggested ideas including an outright ban on "persistent" camping in one location, and a prohibition on any encampment that blocks a sidewalk or right-of-way.

Still, Newsom's office said at the time, no person should face criminal penalties for needing to sleep outdoors.

"There’s nothing compassionate about letting people die on the streets," Newsom said in a May statement, and he went on to refer to last year's decision by the Supreme Court allowing for such enforcement of anti-camping laws. "Local leaders asked for resources — we delivered the largest state investment in history. They asked for legal clarity — the courts delivered. Now, we’re giving them a model they can put to work immediately, with urgency and with humanity, to resolve encampments and connect people to shelter, housing, and care. The time for inaction is over. There are no more excuses."

Newsom launched what's called the State Action for Facilitation on Encampments (SAFE) Task Force, and the "hairball" cleanup was the first effort under that umbrella, as the Chronicle reports.

More sweeps, funded with state dollars, are set to come to Los Angeles, Oakland, San Jose, San Diego, Sacramento, Long Beach, Anaheim, Bakersfield, and Fresno in the coming months.

Mayor Daniel Lurie is fully on board, issuing a statement saying, "The first thing you see when you get to San Francisco should be representative of the clean streets we have across the city. Under my administration, city government will no longer tolerate the conditions we’re seeing on our on-ramps and off-ramps — and now we have the tools to fix it."

The only tools we don't have are enough shelter beds, but who's counting.

Previously: Newsom Calls on California Cities to Flat-Out Ban Homeless Encampments