LYNWOOD, Calif. – There are places in the city of Lynwood that have become magnets for trash and other problems.

Julie Ventura was born and raised in Lynwood. Now she is raising her daughter in the same place.

Not long ago, on a cold night, Ventura found a stranger sleeping in her car, which was parked in her driveway. She had forgotten to lock the doors and believes a homeless person got inside to stay warm.

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“At first it was kind of like surprising, but after a while and then hearing her talk, she was pretty young, it was kind of sad. It made me kind of like okay what can we do to help,” said Ventura.

Lynwood Mayor Aide Castro has heard many stories like this. She traces them back to spots like beneath where the 710 goes to the 105. There it is not hard to find piles of trash amid signs of life.

Highways crisscross much of Lynwood’s 4.9 square miles. About 345 acres within the city are maintained by Caltrans.

Castro says Caltrans is slacking, specifically at three spots: the narrow strip of land between Fernwood Avenue and the 105, the area around the on and off ramps at the 105 and Long Beach Boulevard, as well as the area around East Imperial Highway and the 710. That means illegal dumping and homeless encampments flourish in the area.

“If we don’t do something quickly and stay on top of it, it’s going to get worse,” said Castro.

Since the city doesn’t own the land they beg Caltrans for help.

A Caltrans spokesman released this statement:

“Some of these areas in Lynwood have been cleaned up and received needed maintenance recently by Caltrans, and we have a schedule to clean up the rest of them with our available resources. Caltrans normally tries to give priority to city requests. Caltrans is always willing to partner with cities and other local entities to seek ways to increase levels of services in addition to what Caltrans can provide with our existing resources. Our crew in Lynwood is responsible for maintaining approximately 345 acres of landscaped areas with irrigation. We plan and schedule this work.

For example, about two weeks ago we scheduled a cleanup that will take place on this coming weekend, Sunday, February 16, in Lynwood at the westbound I-105 on-ramp at Long Beach Boulevard. Also, we are in the process of scheduling work in Lynwood at the 105/710 interchange including the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on-ramp to southbound I-710. For every city, it’s important to them to have their highway areas clean and kept up, and it’s important to Caltrans too.

In Lynwood, for example, Caltrans recently completed some maintenance and cleanup along Fernwood Avenue. In November, Caltrans completed a big cleanup on I-105 in Lynwood. In December, Caltrans completed another large cleanup in Lynwood with the involvement of city personnel.”

Castro has yet to meet with any Caltrans officials despite several tries.

“It is just too much of a coincidence that our lower social economic communities are always suffering these types of situations,” said Castro.

Castro admits just clearing the land may not be the most humane, but the current situation isn’t acceptable.