BATON ROUGE - The I-12 underpass at O'Neal Lane has become home to more than just passing cars. Stolen carts, trash and tents are popping up left and right.

District 9 Councilman, Dwight Hudson, says the city has tried to clean up the area for years, to no avail. The efforts have been futile and a waste of resources.

"As of late, when we do those cleanup days, literally we're seeing encampments back the same day so it's become a blight issue and a litter issue so we're looking for a more permanent way to address that issue," Hudson said.

Hudson isn't sure what a permanent solution would entail, but he's been working with DOTD to see what the options look like.

"We talked about putting up bollards on a track that can be pulled down for them to go and inspect the bridge. We've also talked about kind of square tubing like what's being done on Bluebonnet right now," Hudson said.

This week, DOTD installed barricades on a section of the I-10 underpass on Bluebonnet Boulevard. The same metal fencing was placed on the Siegen Lane underpass in July after volunteers from Keep Tiger Town Beautiful discovered a massive stash of pharmacy-grade drugs and more.

But the challenge is unique for O'Neal Lane because of the structure's design. It's larger than the Siegen and Bluebonnet underpasses, which would require a more expensive barricade.

"Of course with anything, it's a funding issue," Hudson said. "It's a little bit unique from the other areas which have been sort of small barricade-type structures they've had to put up. This is a much larger structure so it's going to take some more doing."

DOTD has not fully committed to the idea yet, and even if they did, the question remains of where the unhoused would migrate to next.

"When we go in to remove one of those encampments, we take our homeless outreach team with us, and they offer a suite of services," Hudson said.

Councilman Hudson says he brought the same idea up to DOTD two years ago but was turned down.