Olympia to close Ensign Road again Thursday to move those living in vehicles
The city of Olympia will close Ensign Road again on Thursday, Oct. 6, to remove more people living in vehicles.
Access to Ensign Road will be limited from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. between Martin Way and Providence Lane. Those looking to reach Providence Mother Joseph Care Center and South Sound Oral Surgery and Laboratories Northwest can still take Ensign Road via Lilly Road.
The city closed the road Sept. 21-22 to move 10 people to Quince Street Village, the city’s homeless mitigation site with microhomes. That brought the site’s population to 21 people, The Olympian previously reported.
Thursday’s closure will allow the city to move an additional 10-14 people, according to a city news release. More people will be moved as more microhomes are built.
Clearing the roadway will allow emergency vehicles to access Providence St. Peter Hospital without encountering obstructions. The city started a permitting system in May to limit vehicles on the road.
Vehicles on Ensign Road will be towed to a salvage yard, according to the city. Once removed, the city’s Homeless Response Team will clean the spaces previously occupied by the vehicles and place “cement ecological blocks” to ensure no one new moves in.
The team plans to distribute storage containers to people moving from Ensign Road.
More closures will occur on Wednesdays and Thursdays through mid-October to remove all vehicles from the roadway.
