Every week, the City of Lynwood’s Public Works Department clears tons of trash and debris throughout the City to ensure a cleanly environment for its residents. Alleys, parks and streets are cleaned, and residents are given opportunities to drop off their excess trash. But there are areas within the City limits that the Public Works Department cannot clean and are not allowed to access.
Those areas are CalTrans owned property.
Lynwood has two freeways – the 710 and the 105 that cross through its City limits as well as several underpasses and three on and off ramps. Unfortunately, these are areas that attract homeless individuals, the items they bring with them and the debris they produce. These areas are off-limits to the City of Lynwood Public Works and Public Safety crews.
Also unfortunate is that numerous Lynwood residents, including school-age children, must pass these areas to go to work and school as well as commuters entering and exiting the freeways.
As the homeless population on CalTrans property grows, so does that debris and so does the hopelessness that this is an unfixable problem.
The City of Lynwood stood out as one of the few cities that saw a DECREASE in its homeless population in the 2019 countywide homeless count. This is tied directly to the fact that the City increased its homeless services. It added a new case service manager, who works to place homeless individuals and families in Crisis Housing Shelters and refers them to the County Integrated Care case management system.