O'ahu's homeless to lose their highway hideouts
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
State officials have launched a campaign to clean up hidden places under freeways and bridges that have become havens for some of O'ahu's homeless population.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
Spurred by unsanitary conditions, the rising cost of cleaning the areas and increasing complaints of theft from residents or businesses near the cave-like dwellings, the Department of Transportation is paying a contractor $236,000 to erect fencing and razor wire to prevent access to three of the worst sites.
Contractors Joe Sele, left, and Don Lafoga install razor wire on a freeway fence near Nimitz Highway to prevent access to the area by the homeless.
Work is under way at Ke'ehi Interchange near the airport, at Waimalu Stream near Cutter Ford and near Sumida Farm in 'Aiea.
Once those are done sometime next month, officials will assess whether similar action is needed at other sites, said Scott Naleimaile, with the state DOT's Highway Division.
As many as 25 people have been found living under sections of major freeways from Waipahu to Kapahulu, where overpasses can come to within a few feet of the ground, creating enclosed areas that are attractive because they're out of sight, dry and cool even on a hot day.
The areas have been used as shelter for several years, but as use has increased, so have the problems.
Advocates say the growing use of these sites for shelter is an indication that homelessness is growing on O'ahu.
At some sites the residents have set up permanent homes, tapping into streetlights to draw electricity and into sprinkler systems for water. They have built small loft-like spaces by jamming plywood or wood pallets into the massive concrete forms that support the road overhead.
The problem is the areas become filthy and dangerous and the state is spending $50,000 a year in trying to keep the sites clean, Naleimaile said.
"We are doing this because we have public complaints. It is unsightly and there are thefts, so we have to act on it," Naleimaile said yesterday. "But where are they going? We are doing our job, but realize these are people that need help."
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
The problems escalate when drug addicts and ex-cons take over the areas, Naleimaile said. He said he has been attacked three times while conducting routine inspections, twice by people wielding knives and once by a man with a gun.
Scott Naleimaile, with the Department of Transportation's Highway Division, checks under the freeway near the Ke'ehi Interchange where the homeless hide. Stolen property and trash are also piling up.
Stolen property and broken bottles are common, and confrontations make it dangerous for work crews to rid sites of the old car batteries, buckets of human waste and piles of trash that have collected.
Lynn Maunakea, executive director of the Institute for Human Services, said she understands the need to clean up the areas, but she said the shelters are full and she has no idea where more homeless people will go.
Maunakea said she recently had to impose a cap on the number of people allowed in the IHS men's shelter at 250 a night, which means an average 30 men are turned away every day.
Capacity at the woman's shelter is 52 and they have been allowing 60 people in. Up to 18 people are turned away every night.
"There is not really anywhere else for them to go," Maunakea said. "I'm not encouraging additional shelters, I'm really encouraging additional housing. We are trying to move the people out of here and into housing. It is happening, but it is happening slowly.
"I think it will get a little worse before it get better."
There are more than 7,000 homeless people on O'ahu, according to state figures, and an estimated 13,000 homeless people in Hawai'i.
Mayor Jeremy Harris wants to set up a $6 million homeless center that would meet the needs of the population, getting them off the streets and into assistance programs and eventually permanent housing. But that money is earmarked for the fiscal year 2004 budget, which must be approved by the City Council. The project would be paid for through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and run by a nonprofit organization.
Naleimaile said he takes the time to talk with every one of the homeless people living under the freeway. Some are veterans, down on their luck. There are also woman and children. When he thinks they are capable, he said he talks to church groups and community organizations to try to get them to help.
"I know who is on the edge and who really needs help," he said. "I have to do my job. I have to walk that line, but I'd like to see it end."
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
