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Parks Workers Hope Fencing Will Deter Crime And Litter

Rachael McDonald

Workers with Eugene’s Parks department are erecting fences this week under the freeway bridges that reach across Washington Jefferson Park.

The fences will restrict access to areas that are hard for police to patrol. But parks workers regularly find evidence of drug use, defecation and trash.
Kelli Darnell with Eugene Parks and Open Space says the problem has gotten worse.
Darnell: “We’re fencing off some of these areas because they’ve turned into a very expensive and demoralizing situation for staff to clean up every day. Cleaning up needles, human waste, garbage and also because the public has called in and voiced their concerns and their fears about being in the park.”
Darnell says with the fencing won’t completely solve the problem. But the hope is it will deter illegal activities in the dark recesses under the freeway bridges.
 

Rachael McDonald is KLCC’s host for All Things Considered on weekday afternoons. She also is the editor of the KLCC Extra, the daily digital newspaper. Rachael has a BA in English from the University of Oregon. She started out in public radio as a newsroom volunteer at KLCC in 2000.
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