Mayor Lurie, Caltrans Partner to Keep Streets Clean and Safe, Address Homeless Encampments

SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Daniel Lurie today announced that the City and County of San Francisco and Caltrans have signed a delegated maintenance agreement that will help keep San Francisco’s streets clean and safe and address encampments, litter, debris, and weeds on the state right-of-way in San Francisco. The agreement authorizes the city to clean up sections of the state highway system, which is Caltrans’ property, while connecting people experiencing homelessness to city services and housing.

The partnership between Mayor Lurie and Caltrans builds on the mayor’s work to keep San Francisco streets clean and safe and transform the city’s response to the behavioral health and homelessness crisis. Mayor Lurie has integrated the city’s street outreach teams under a neighborhood-based model and stood up recovery and treatment beds with San Francisco’s encampment numbers reaching their lowest levels on record, down by a quarter since March 2025. The mayor has also taken steps to clean the streets, launching a public-private partnership with Avenue Greenlight to clean commercial corridors in seven neighborhoods.

“The first thing you see when you get to San Francisco should be representative of the clean streets we have across the city. Under my administration, city government will no longer tolerate the conditions we’re seeing on our on-ramps and off-ramps—and now we have the tools to fix it,” said Mayor Lurie. “Thanks to this agreement with our partners at Caltrans, city departments will take action to deliver safer, cleaner streets for residents and visitors across our city.”

“Caltrans is proud to strengthen our ongoing partnership with the City and County of San Francisco as we work together to address encampments,” said Caltrans Acting District 4 Director Dave Ambuehl. “Through this collaboration, we are committed to connecting persons experiencing homelessness with a path to housing and essential services. This partnership reflects our shared responsibility and mutual accountability in tackling this urgent issue.”

The agreement allows San Francisco to perform maintenance tasks and encampment cleanups on the state right-of-way within San Francisco, in a manner consistent with state and local policies and reporting requirements to ensure that eligible costs, which will be reimbursed by the state, are used effectively and transparently.

Encampments that pose a threat to health and safety remain a top priority in cleanup operations, including encampments located close to traffic, those with unhoused individuals at risk of being struck by vehicles, encampments in confined spaces, or those near unstable structures. Maintenance tasks in the agreement include encampment resolutions as well as the removal of litter, debris, and weeds by San Francisco Public Works cleaning and landscape crews. Caltrans has signed seven similar agreements with cities throughout the state.

Since the launch of Mayor Lurie’s integrated neighborhood street teams, San Francisco has seen a 40% increase in shelter placements with 1,296 in the street teams’ first four months.