© 2025 KALW 91.7 FM Bay Area
KALW Public Media / 91.7 FM Bay Area
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Oakland to finally clear Wood Street homeless encampment

The Wood Street homeless encampment once housed 200 people and covered 40 acres
Thomas Hawk
/
Flickr / Creative Commons
The Wood Street homeless encampment once housed 200 people and covered 40 acres

The order is the latest in a long-running dispute over a homeless camp that once covered 40 acres under the Nimitz Freeway in Oakland, where between 200 and 300 people lived in vehicles, RVs, tents and other makeshift structures.

The land was mostly owned by Caltrans – and after a history of fires on the site and concerns about the proximity of a nearby oxygen production plant – on July 15, 2022 the agency gave residents five-days' notice to clear the site.

Three days later, a group of encampment residents sued Caltrans, the governor, Oakland and a number of public officials in federal court, alleging that their forced removal from the site would constitute an unconstitutional "state created danger" and place them at a high degree of risk because there were not adequate shelter options for them in Oakland.

That case was assigned to Judge Orrick, who expressed concern about the short notice and lack of shelter options. He issued a temporary injunction on July 19, 2022.

But the injunction was dissolved in phases, beginning in August of 2022, giving residents more time to find other alternatives. The city of Oakland agreed to assist residents on identifying their options.

City lawyers had no comment on the ruling. Plaintiffs' lawyers did not respond to an inquiry as to whether they would seek to appeal or otherwise challenge the determination.

Sunni M. Khalid is a veteran of more than 40 years in journalism, having worked in print, radio, television, and web journalism.