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Fremont installs boulders along 1,700 foot section of roadway to prevent homeless from parking

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Published  February 6, 2020 6:40pm PST
Fremont
KTVU FOX 2

Fremont installs boulders on roadway to keep homeless from parking there

Ann Rubin reports from Fremont.

FREMONT, Calif. - The city of Fremont installed boulders along a stretch of Kato Road near companies like Seagate and Tesla, Thursday.

The city says the goal is to keep people from parking there, especially the homeless. 

It was moving day along a 1,700 ft. stretch of Kato Road. All but one RV took off before the Fremont crews moved in.

The homeless that had been living here say they're sad to go.

Jerry Drawhorn says, "It's kind of like a slap in the face. It's like why? Why would you want to do that? To reject people."

Fremont says this is no rejection, rather it's an issue of health and safety.

Plus they say local residents and businesses had complained.

Geneva Bosques with the Fremont Police Department says, "This is really a pilot. And so we want to see how this 1,700 ft. stretch of road goes, if it's effective."

City crews towed the one remaining RV, which had been abandoned by it's owner.

Then they started installing boulders, one by one, to block any future parking.

Bosques says, "We tried to give people enough time to know that they could move. And you know, I don't know where they went, they may have just moved down the road, and that's fine. We're ok with that right now."

Some employees across the street are too. They say the boulders are a bad idea.

Suman Gupta, who works nearby says, "They are in the situation. They have to park somewhere to live. They're human beings, right."

For now, those parked outside the tow zone will be allowed to stay. Fremont says they'll even send advocates out to talk to them.

Lynn Shipman says it comes as a huge relief. "Excited. Very excited because I didn't want to have to move all this by today," said Shipman.

She's stopped packing, for now. The city plans to evaluate how phase one went, before moving on with phase two.

Shipman says, "It's a little extra time. I'm thinking Newark, we're going to go to Newark next. We started in San Jose, Milpitas, Fremont, Newark is the next city."