Philadelphia to shut down stretch of Kensington Avenue for "planned encampment resolution"
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia will temporarily shut down Kensington Avenue from East Orleans Street to Allegheny Avenue on Wednesday in Kensington as city workers clear an encampment of people in the neighborhood's main corridor.
"The temporary closure is needed to ensure the safety of city outreach teams as they engage individuals during the final day of encampment resolution on Wednesday, May 8, during which individuals residing at the encampment have been notified to dismantle any tents and structures that pose public health and safety hazards and obstruct sidewalk passage," the city wrote in a release.
Kensington Avenue will be closed from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday as city workers work on "a planned encampment resolution on the 3000 and 3100 blocks," the city said in a release.
According to the city, traffic will be detoured southeast to Frankford Avenue, Emerald Streets and other nearby streets.
Clearing the encampment will be the final day of "a month-long encampment resolution process" that started on April 4. Last month, the city posted signs on the 3000-3100 blocks of Kensington Avenue and other adjacent areas saying that camping and storing belongings will be strictly prohibited.
Since April, the city said Philadelphia outreach teams and social service agencies have been working with individuals in the neighborhood to ensure housing and treatment services will be made available to people experiencing homelessness.
"The city of Philadelphia deeply appreciates the understanding, patience, and cooperation of the residents of the Kensington community and surrounding neighborhoods during this temporary closure," the city wrote in a release.
Mayor Cherelle Parker hosts town hall in Kensington
Ahead of the "planned encampment resolution," Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker hosted a budget briefing and town hall in the neighborhood at Rock Ministries Tuesday night.
"I am here today because you matter to me," Parker said to a packed audience.
"How are you going to tell children that you care about them and their future matters when they can't walk down the street without risking stepping on needles?" she added. "They can't go in the parks and play without visually seeing something kids shouldn't have to experience."
In an email to CBS News Philadelphia, the city said outreach teams have already engaged up to 75 people and observed seven tents. So far, at least 28 people have been placed into treatment or shelter services, according to the city.
As for anyone still at the encampments, the city said they are "not being removed from Kensington or arrested. Some are going into treatment centers and other housing that may be in the Kensington area or other parts of the City where there are treatment beds available or some will just go into shelters for people living homeless. Others will just move."
Since Parker was inaugurated as mayor, she's made cleaning up Kensington's open-air drug market one of her top priorities to make Philadelphia the "safest, cleanest, greenest big city" in the United States.
The "planned encampment resolution" is a part of Parker's five-step plan to address issues in the neighborhood. Some community groups had questions about the Parker administration's plan for Kensington.
In March, Philadelphia City Council passed a bill to restrict a business in Kensington with a curfew. City Councilmember Quetcy Lozada said the bill was crafted with input from residents, businesses and nonprofits in response to the opioid crisis.
Some city council members have also formed a Kensington Caucus, hoping to improve the quality of life in the neighborhood. Parker picked Pedro Rosario as deputy police commissioner to address public safety in Kensington.
Kensington has been plagued by an opioid crisis for years and recently drugs like xylazine have been sweeping the city's streets.
Questions remain about the "encampment resolution" plan
Patrice Rogers, of the nonprofit Stop the Risk, said she's not sure if Wednesday's action will work, but she's willing to give Parker's plan a chance because she knows something needs to change in the neighborhood.
"I'm hopeful," Rogers said. "I feel like she has a team, she has a lot of backing than the old administration did."
From November 2023 to March, the city made contact with 675 homeless people in Kensington, according to information from the Managing Director's Office.
But people like Rogers and other are worried about where the hundreds of homeless in Kensington will go.
"I'm just afraid that people will be more displaced and more into the residents and neighborhoods and stuff like that," Rogers said.
"They push them one block either direction, and that's not a solution," said John Wegley, who was homeless for 12 years. "The solution is to find them better help."
CBS News Philadelphia reached out to the mayor's office and managing director for more details on the plan, but none were provided.
In a statement to CBS Philadelphia, a spokesperson for councilmember Quetcy Lozada, who represents Kensington, said "the administration has not communicated the specifics and details of the operation to council."
Still, Lozada's office is "hopeful for a successful and peaceful outcome" – a sentiment business owners on the corridor echoed.
"Hopefully it's a good solution, it's good," said Nur Hossan, who owns a business on Kensington Avenue.
