Caltrans to reimburse Chula Vista to clear encampments along I-5

By Gary Warth

Sept. 1, 2026

Chula Vista city crews will be able to clear homeless encampments on state property near Interstate 5 and will be reimbursed for the work as part of a new agreement with the California Department of Transportation.

Under the Encampment Delegated Maintenance Agreement approved by the City Council on Sept. 1, the state will reimburse the city $200,000, the same amount it otherwise would have spent to clear encampments along 3.2 miles of I-5 from E Street to Main Street during the 2026-27 fiscal year that runs through June 30, 2027.

Chula Vista follows San Diego as the second city in the county to sign an EDMA with Caltrans, which has similar agreements throughout the state with 13 cities including Riverside, Santa Ana, Ontario, San Bernardino, Santa Monica, Fresno, San Jose and San Francisco.

Outreach workers had been allowed on state property to connect with homeless people, but the city was not allowed to clear the property. Mayor John McCann said the new agreement will allow the city to address encampments near the freeway in a much more timely manner.

“Their focus has always been on transportation and safety,” McCann said about Caltrans. “When we would call Caltrans, it would not be a priority with them. They’d say, ‘We’ll be out there in several months.’ But that obviously wasn’t good enough for us.”

McCann touted Chula Vista’s success in reducing the number of unsheltered people in the city by 25%, as shown in the point-in-time count conducted in January.

The mayor also said he was proud that he authorized what he called one of the strictest encampment bans in the county, but also noted that the ban resulted in the unintended consequence of homeless people moving to state right-of-ways that were out of the city’s reach.

“We’ve been able to get homeless out of our parks, been able to get homeless off the streets, but there were many encampments that were coming onto our I-5 on- and off-ramps,” he said. “These were unsafe, unhealthy, and created many safety and crime issues.”

Housing and Homeless Services Director Stacy Kurtz said EDMAs with other cities have resulted in the removal of 26,500 encampments and 457,000 cubic yards of litter and debris from state land since the agreements began in 2025.

Kurtz said the EDMAs were launched in response to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s directives to remove encampments on Caltrans property.

Kurtz said the city hopes to take its effort addressing encampments even further with additional state dollars. Chula Vista has partnered with County Housing and Community Development Services and National City in an Encampment Resolution Fund application.

The state fund has provided millions of dollars to move homeless people out of encampments and into housing and connected to services. ERF dollars have been used in San Diego, Lemon Grove, Oceanside and other areas of the county.

If the application is successful, Kurtz said the funds would be used for outreach services and housing resources targeted on a 5.5 mile stretch of I-5 from Main Street in Chula Vista to Division Street in National City.