In late August, the Bethlehem Police Department shared that they had received a letter from Norfolk Southern asking for the homeless encampment under the Hill-to-Hill Bridge to be cleared. The railroad company operates in 22 states in the Eastern U.S., with a portion of their nearly 19,500 miles of track running along the Lehigh River.
The company reportedly asked Bethlehem Police to install signs on their property by September 15 informing unhoused individuals that they must vacate the area by December 15. Norfolk Southern officials say the encampment is too close to an active track, posing health and safety risks.
Earlier in August, the City of Allentown posted signs along the Jordan Creek to inform an encampment of more than 100 unhoused individuals that they must relocate. City officials said a review of flood plan maps showed the area to be an active flood zone.
The call for removal of the Bethlehem encampment has drawn the same public outcry that followed the Jordan Creek encampment’s removal. Around 30 individuals are estimated to be living along the Lehigh River. That number is reportedly increasing as individuals from Jordan Creek relocate to Bethlehem’s encampment.
At a City Council meeting on Tuesday evening, residents urged officials to consider the “humanity of the situation.” Enforcing a sweep when the people in the camp have nowhere to go would be “uncaring,” one commenter said.
Bethlehem Police Chief Michelle Kott said the department’s goal is not to make arrests. She reported that they are working with Bethlehem’s Community Connections program to help people find housing, food security, and jobs.
Officials approved more than $8.6 million in state and county grant requests on Tuesday. A portion of that funding will go to the Bethlehem emergency shelter for capital improvements.
