Resourceful homeless made housing inside the bridge in Colorado: there was a kitchen, a toilet and bedrooms

Whit Ridge, Colorado police estimated that about six people lived inside the bridge that crosses Highway 70 in Jefferson County. Their camp under the bridge had a kitchen as well as cupboards. Writes about it KDVR.

Photo: IStock

“It's incredible. I don't think most of our officers, including officers who have worked here for over 30 years, have ever seen anything like this," said Whit Ridge Police (WRPD) public relations officer Joanna Small.

WRPD said one of its public servants spotted a man crawling into the access tunnel to the flyover near 44th Avenue and Youngfield Street. According to WRPD, the bridge has interior bays that the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) uses to access sections of the roadway for repairs and inspection.

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“But the homeless decided to use it as a makeshift habitat,” Small said.

Police body camera video shows warehouse-like conditions, with boxes, bins and bags stacked against the walls. One compartment was used as a toilet, another for garbage, and another for burning it.

The rest were turned into "rooms" with tents and beds, food storage racks, and closets with dozens of items of clothing and jackets. The police found valuable items among all this, such as bicycles, electronics and tools.

“We were worried that this could be a safe haven for stolen items. But we didn't find any items that needed to be registered as evidence," Small said.

CDOT hired a crew to clear the bridge. According to WRPD, the work took four days to complete. 120 cubic meters of garbage were removed from the camp.

It is not known how long the homeless were there.

“In general, we monitor our infrastructure for camps, in addition, we may be alerted by local agencies or residents of settlements,” CDOT spokeswoman Tamara Rollison said.

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The agency clears two to three homeless camps every week, according to CDOT. Garbage collection and camp cleaning costs $2-3 million a year.

According to federal law, every bridge must be inspected at least once every two years. CDOT said it inspects every bridge in Colorado on a schedule, but cannot provide information on when it last inspected the Colorado 58 overpass at I-70.

“It's dangerous for them, it's dangerous for the city, it's dangerous for drivers. We don't want them under the bridge," Small said.

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