City Forces Removal of Homeless Camp Near Museum District

HOUSTON, TX -- Complaints of people in the roadway near the freeway exit prompted city leader to clear a homeless camp in Midtown, at Fannin Street underneath the Southwest Freeway underpass.

Officials ordered the homeless to leave the area by the end of the day on Monday.

"We've got to pack up our stuff and get on out of here,” a man who’s been living at the camp told KPRC.

Officials from the Texas Department of Transportation and Houston police were at the camp Monday morning to help those living inside the camp move, while TxDOT crews began building a fence around the area where the camp is located.

TxDOT officials said the camp needed to be cleared and the area fenced off because of recent safety issues, including people walking on an exit ramp of Southwest Freeway.

However, other complaints from nearby business owners of drug use, particularly Kush use among the homeless population.

“It's not about being in favor or not. It's not a solution,” Judy Francis said. “People like to throw around the homeless as a word we are getting upset about and that’s not it. It's really the drug and crime population that's rampant."

City leaders admittedly have been dealing with Kush users under Interstate 69 in Midtown and that police are actively working to address the problem.

Image: Bryan Kirk, Patch Staff