SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — Work is underway to clean up the site of the now-former homeless camp along I-90 known as Camp Hope, that officially closed last week.
At its peak, Camp Hope was home to over 600 residents experiencing homelessness.
Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) says the property was officially vacated by the last camper on Thursday night. Now the process begins to restore the property and bring it back to its former state.
That will include removing the fencing and the security guard shack that was put up to increase safety in the neighborhood and control the camp's growth last fall.
KREM 2 confirmed that the state would be taking soil samples at the camp to see if any removal will need to be done. In addition, Spokane Police Department patrol will continue in that area.
All of the next steps to clear the I-90 homeless encampment will take place over the next two weeks, WSDOT says.
After the land is properly cleaned and back to its original state, it will ultimately become the site of the north-south freeway on-ramp to I-90. Although groundbreaking on that project won't get started for several more years.
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