Report: Atlanta begins removing homeless encampments from under bridges

Atlanta Police, Georgia Department of Transportation personnel, and outreach workers began an operation to clear out homeless encampments underneath city bridges on Monday.

Mayor Andre Dickens pledged to clear the encampments after numerous fires believed to have been set by unhoused people have damaged bridges and closed roadways in the city. A portion of Cheshire Bridge Road remains closed after a Dec. 20 fire compromised the integrity of a bridge.

According to a report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the clearing operation began this morning off Buford Highway near Cheshire Bridge and I-85.

The AJC reported that a half-dozen people were allowed to pack up to three bags of belongings. The people will be taken to the former athletic club at Atlanta Medical Center in Old Fourth Ward, which has become a temporary shelter.

By mid-afternoon, workers had cleared the encampment of fencing, tents, trash and other debris. An Atlanta Police spokesman at the scene said cleanup of the Cheshire Bridge site would take several days and would not elaborate on where the clean-up team would move to next.

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Rough Draft Atlanta.