Chicago clearing out West Loop homeless camp to clean viaducts

CHICAGO (CBS) -- After months of complaints from the alderman and area neighbors, city officials were set to begin clearing out a homeless encampment in the West Loop on Monday.

The encampments under several viaducts in the West Loop, near the Ogilvie Transportation Center and Union Station, have seen several violent incidents in recent weeks.

The people who live in tents under those viaducts were seen removing their belongings Monday morning as the city prepared to power wash the viaducts, requiring those who sleep there to remove their tents.

Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation crews arrived at the viaduct at Lake and Clinton streets around 9:30 a.m. to begin power washing.

Under the Clinton CTA stop on Lake Street, one side of the viaduct was lined with tents. Just weeks ago, there were also tents on the other side.

Ald. Bill Conway (34th) and many people who live in the area have said the homeless encampments have become a magnet for crime. Earlier this month, a man was found shot and unresponsive near that intersection. He later died at Stroger Hospital. Police said he had been shot near Clinton Street and Washington Boulevard in a drug deal gone wrong.

Days earlier, a man was arrested near the encampment in possession of a loaded gun and a large amount of drugs.

"It is an area that has not been safe for some of the folks living here. We are offering today everyone rapid rehousing, immediate. Seven people have taken us up on it in the past week, 15 have not, but as temperatures drop, we are going to continue to offer that and hope that hope that more people take us up on it," Conway said as city crews began clearing out the encampment on Monday.

Aside from the crime, people in the area said a lot of the tent encampments have been blocking pedestrians and people with disabilities from getting through viaducts in the West Loop. They said they hoped clearing the encampments would solve several issues they'd seen in the area.