Austin officials closed a second homeless encampment, relocating dozens of people, to a city-owned hotel, and, in turn, sparing them from the risk of being cited under the city's increased enforcement against public camping.
About 45 people were moved from the site, which was under a highway overpass at Ben White Boulevard and Menchaca Road, officials said. They were relocated to the Southbridge shelter, a 75-room former Rodeway Inn in South Austin that the city purchased in 2019 to provide shelter for people experiencing homelessness.
The move appeared to have been completed on Wednesday morning. Photos taken by the American-Statesman showed crews placing tents into a garbage truck as residents loaded into a white van from the city's Parks and Recreation Department. Dozens of rats or mice emerged from heaps of trash as the encampment was being cleared out.