Government
BY HALEY MCLEOD & BEN THOMPSON
City cleanup initiative ends after state sweeps A three-week city initiative to clear dozens of encampments ended Nov. 8 on the heels of a sep- arate state operation to remove homeless people from public areas in Austin. What happened Multiple Austin departments coordinated to pri- oritize dozens of clean-ups and connect homeless residents with resources and shelter under the city-led program. Gray said the e ort was meant to get ahead of impacts from severe weather and a cold winter season. It concluded Nov. 3-8 with a focus on “harder-to-reach” public land deeper in city greenbelts, parks, and nature preserves. The initiatives took place under a 2021 state law that bans camping in public, as well as Austin’s local camping ban reinstated by city voters the same year.
Austin-San Antonio rail study launched Travis County o cials approved a $124,953 feasibility study exploring commuter rail options between Austin and San Antonio. The big picture The study into the initiative will evaluate passenger rail options on state-managed land along major highways, including existing rail infrastructure, with potential service options from the Amtrak station in San Antonio to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The theoretical path would run from downtown Austin to the east along Hwy. 71 past the airport, south down SH 130 and west into San Antonio along I-10. The study is currently only expected to look at SH 130 and I-10.
Austin Resource Recovery crews addressed hundreds of encampments this fall.
Encampment response
• 669 encampments cleaned • 1,212 people found at encampments
• 181 moved to shelters • 87 connected to services
• 1.35M pounds/ 673.86 tons of debris removed • 71 citations and 22 arrests
CITY OF AUSTIN COMMUNITY IMPACT
8
COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
Powered by FlippingBook