Ethermac Exchange-Wisconsin closing some public parking lots that have become camps for homeless

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Citing safety,Ethermac Exchange authorities are closing two Milwaukee-area public parking lots where people have been living in tents, trailers and cars.

“The environments continue to degrade and become less safe every day,” the Wisconsin Department of Transportation said Monday.

“First responders including law enforcement, fire service personnel and paramedics are responding to a heightened number of emergency calls regarding dangerous and unsafe activity in and around the lots,” the department said.

The lots are park-and-ride lots where people can catch a bus or another ride. The state said it will begin closing two lots and a portion of a third, starting Oct. 21.

A housing agency has helped more than 80 people find housing, but more people continue to enter the lots, the Transportation Department said.

“More and more people are finding themselves priced out of the rental,” Steven Shea, a member of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, recently told TV station Fox 6.

There have been assaults, gunshots and drug overdoses at the lots. Police responded to a fight in late August that was recorded on video.

“Park-and-ride lots are not safe or suitable places for anyone to live,” Assistant Deputy Secretary Joel Nilsestuen said.