SEATTLE — On Monday, WSDOT posted signs along Myers Way S near the Seattle/White Center making intentions clear: a plan is imminent to clean up the sprawling homeless encampment situated between Myers Way and State Route 509.
The encampment has created trouble for those living nearby. Residents report hearing gunshots almost daily. Seattle Police are still investigating a homicide that happened there in May.
"We would like to see the land returned and usable," Diane Radischat, president of the resident association at SHAG Arrowhead Gardens, said. The senior living community sits at the crossroads of Seattle's homelessness crisis. The spring is when residents, led by Radischat, started making complaints to local and state officials.
"That's when we saw a big influx of mobile homes coming. The theft and the crime increasing on our property. The gunshots. Now, they're quite frequent," she said.
"Older people are scared to come out of their houses now in the dark," Travis Macklin, another resident told KING 5 in the spring. "I'm home. I can't run from here. This is where I live at."
Radischat says WSDOT and City of Seattle officials will hold a meeting with residents on Tuesday. She anticipates a plan will be laid out and a timeline given to residents on when they can expect the encampment to be cleared. Radischat's sense of relief is twofold for everyone in her community, especially those living in the encampment that will be connected to services.
"We have the ability to help them and I think that's what our job on Earth is. You help those who can't help themselves," she said.
KING 5 reached out to WSDOT for specifics on the meeting but has not heard back yet. In the weeks leading up to this meeting, however, WSDOT did send detailed plans about the process to get the cleanup started. They noted the difficult terrain as a hindrance. Experts were brought in to be sure the clean-up could be done as safely as possible.