People had been secretly living in a tunnel suspended from a highway flyover in Wheat Ridge and the space was cleared out this week with 120-cubic-yards of refuse removed, police said.
A community services officer with the Wheat Ridge Police Department recently saw a person climbing into the tunnel, suspended from the Colo. 58 flyover above Interstate 70, near the intersection of West 44th Avenue and Youngfield Street, and followed the person, police said in a Thursday Facebook post.
The police Facebook post includes a video of the space taken earlier this week.
“It turns out people have been trespassing, living there, and storing excessive amounts of trash and property throughout the length of the flyover,” police said in the post.
Items, including food, clothing, blankets, buckets and boxes, were removed and the narrow tunnel, which includes eight sections, has been cleared out.
A food pantry, a small shelf and a table, was set up in the space. Jackets hung from a rack. Police, using flashlights, called out for anyone inside to show themselves.
“It’s dangerous and needs to be cleaned out,” police said.
The people who have been living in the space were trespassing, according to police. No one using the tunnel has been contacted by police.
CDOT hired a contractor to clear the space, a trash dumpster was set up on the side of the busy highway and filled as part of the process. Police did not find any items that had been reported stolen.
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