An alleyway near the 5 Freeway in Arleta that has seen a rise in homeless encampments, trash and arrests, will be temporarily closed for the next 18 months.

Gates have already been installed at the 10-foot-wide walkway northeast of Arleta Avenue, between Wingo and Osborne streets, according to council aides. The City Council signed off on the closure Wednesday.

Residents complained as early as 2015 of a rise in homeless tents and pile ups of trash at the walkway. They reported scenes of an alley strewn with shopping carts, condoms, syringes and human waste. The alleyway is said to be used by students of a nearby elementary school.

Councilwoman Nury Martinez, who authored a 2015 motion requesting the closure, said in a statement that the “situation was unsafe for kids and families, and we have been working to keep it clean, and believe closing the alley is in the best interest for the health and safety of everyone in the neighborhood.”

Martinez said the closure was put into effect with the “full support of the neighborhood, because of the incredible nuisance it had become.”

While the closure request was being processed, the city conducted clean-ups to keep the trash under control, council aides said.

After 18 months, the closure will be re-evaluated, council aides said.

Bureau of Engineering officials who backed the request in November estimated the closure sahabet will cost about $5,000.

The closure also got the support of Los Angeles Police Department officials from the Mission Division who wrote in a 2016 report that the alleyway has seen an “increase in crime and quality of life issues.”

The alleyway has been the site of arrests for violations such as “lodging in public place without permission,” loitering in a public walkway, and the possession of shopping carts taken without permission, according the LAPD officials.

Police officials also wrote that the problems at the alleyway “have been attributed to homeless encampments which are constantly being established along the pedestrian walkway.”

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