Segment of Rio Grande Street closed to traffic; S.L. seeking input on 2-year closure

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SALT LAKE CITY — The blockades are up on Rio Grande.

A segment of Salt Lake City's most infamous street was shut down to vehicle traffic Friday — the product of several days of quarreling between Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski and Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes.

Utah Department of Transportation workers used front-end loaders to place concrete barriers on Rio Grande Street from 200 South to the south perimeters of the Road Home shelter and Catholic Community Services' facilities property lines, blocking off the area political leaders say has been a hot spot for drug dealers preying on people experiencing homelessness.

Hughes has called the area the "McDonald's drive-thru for drug dealers."

As crews worked, a crowd of people queuing up for lunch at St. Vincent De Paul's Dining Hall watched — some in confusion, others with frustration.

"This is a public road, you can't block it off!" one man shouted as he walked by the barriers, while two Salt Lake City police officers kept watch.

David Gregg, who said he's been staying at the Road Home, didn't see the point.

"What area is going to be safe? There's always going to be drugs, no matter where you go," he said.

But others, like Lois Watts — who said she'd been staying at the Road Home for a month after she lost her lease on her apartment — was relieved, hoping the blockades would do more to keep drugs away from people seeking help.

"I'm glad," she said. "I just want the drugs to stop and the drama — that's all we get down here. Drama and drugs."

Down the street, Rio Grande Cafe co-owner Byron Loveall — who bought the cafe in February — said he "couldn't be happier."

"This will definitely help," he said, adding that he hopes talk of an even more secure area will come to fruition. "This is great for the city and great for the homeless."

Loveall said his cafe saw a 30 percent increase in sales the first week of Operation Rio Grande, and he hopes the blockade will help even more customers feel safer in the area. He noted that some of his customers Friday had come to see what was happening on the street.

"I'm just so happy that we're addressing it as a city and as humans," he said.

Though Friday's blockade didn't quite fulfill Hughes' calls for full closure of the street except to people seeking homeless services, the speaker called it a first step toward creating a "safe space" that is "integral" to Operation Rio Grande's efforts to pry criminals away from the vulnerable.

"We are moving forward; we're seeing some progress made," Hughes said on KSL Newsradio's "Doug Wright Show" Friday morning.

But, Hughes said more work needs to be done to accomplish that "safe space" — one he envisions would be gated and fenced off, require a homeless services ID to access, and be managed by state and city police that will scan for drugs or weapons before entry.

Previously, Biskupski was reluctant to use her administrative power to immediately but temporarily close the section of the street, not wanting to circumvent a public process with the City Council to close the public area.

Her reluctance frustrated Hughes, who insisted the closure was time sensitive because drugs were already beginning to seep back into the area, despite Operation Rio Grande's efforts over the last three weeks.

But Thursday evening, Biskupski and Hughes announced a decision to close the road to traffic Friday. A closure to pedestrian traffic may be approved next week following a public meeting Wednesday, after Biskupski receives input from residents on a more long-term closure — until the Road Home's shelter shutters in June 2019.

The public forum is tentatively scheduled to happen at the old Anthropologie building at The Gateway, 116 S. Rio Grande St., at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Salt Lake City officials have also launched an online survey to collect public input on the closure, at slcmayor.com. As of Friday evening, about 80 percent of respondents were supportive, according to its results.

Jonathon Hardy, division director for housing and community development for the Utah Department of Workforce Services, was overseeing the road closure Friday. He said the closure would help keep drugs away from people seeking services.

"There are drug problems everywhere, there's no doubt about that. But we've had a particularly strong market here," Hardy said. "All these efforts are to help protect this vulnerable population from a lot of the drug activity that's been so brazen down here."

Road Home officials issued a statement Friday expressing support for the closure and the "many efforts to increase safety in the Rio Grande neighborhood."

"It is of the utmost importance that people in need of services have easy access to those services," the statement said. "We thank our law enforcement partners, as well as the leaders at the state, city and county levels for their dedicated efforts to identify and develop solutions to accomplish this goal."

Shelter officials say the blockade will not impact donation drop-offs or access to services as the shelter's parking lot is still accessible.