Alcohol put the tattooed 31-year-old man from Minneapolis on the road to homelessness that eventually led to "Tent City" in downtown Milwaukee about three months ago.

"I just Googled 'Tent City' and it popped up," the self-described drifter, who would identify himself only as Brian, told a Journal Sentinel reporter Saturday.

Living in Rice Lake at the time, he wasn't specifically searching for the sprawling homeless encampment beneath the Interstate 794 overpass at North 6th and West Clybourn Streets.

"I was searching for any one that was near where I was at."

Asked what he planned on doing after he and about 60 other occupants of the camp were ordered by the state Department of Transportation to vacate its property by Oct. 31, Brian had one simple answer.

"I have no idea," he said.

Brian and other occupants of the camp received written notice from the DOT on Friday.

The order was prompted by work that will begin soon on a joint DOT-City of Milwaukee green infrastructure project under the I-794 freeway between North 2nd and North 13th streets between West Clybourn Street and West St. Paul Avenue, according to DOT spokesman Michael Pyritz.

The notice urges the occupants to take advantage of shelters and other services for people who are homeless that are available in the Milwaukee area.

"We support the work that they do and strongly encourage you to engage with these service providers to access indoor placements," says the notice, which was also distributed at an encampment at North 13th and West St. Paul Avenue.

The Department of Public Works is initiating the project, which will be funded with dollars the city receives through the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Green Solutions Program, according to a news release from the DPW.

The project will reduce the amount of polluted runoff that enters local waterways through proper management of stormwater discharges from developments and redevelopments within its boundaries, according to the release.

In 2018, the Common Council unanimously approved the city’s Green Infrastructure Plan, which envisions Milwaukee adding approximately 36 million gallons of stormwater storage by implementing green infrastructure by 2030.

Growth of encampment

In April 2017, the encampment at 6th and Clybourn was an almost unnoticeable cluster of makeshift shelters.

It has now spread west of 7th Street and south toward St. Paul Avenue.

Tents — some large enough to shelter multiple people — have replaced cardboard and plywood structures, and couches, coolers and barbecue grills now sit amid piles of garbage and debris.

The encampment has swelled to more than 60 tents since being nearly empty in April, according to Milwaukee County housing officials.

In addition to becoming increasingly squalid and unsanitary, it has also become increasingly dangerous, according to officials at Milwaukee Downtown Business Improvement District No. 21.

A stabbing occurred this summer at the camp, which has seen increased heroin use and recruitment of occupants for criminal activities, housing officials have said.

The growth of the camp has occurred despite the best efforts by Milwaukee County outreach workers, who placed 89 occupants into housing between October 2018 and February, according to Eric Collins-Dyke, homeless outreach services manager for the Milwaukee County Housing Division.

The DOT has shown patience and understanding with regard to the encampment and has assured housing workers that they will be allowed the necessary time to find placement indoors for everyone at the encampment, Collins-Dyke said.

"'On our end, we'll continue outreach to the encampment daily and work on finding indoor options for everyone there," Collins-Dyke said Friday.

"For the homeless outreach community nothing has changed — we were able to successfully get everyone indoors last year and we plan to do the same this year."

Soon to be work zone

The order issued Friday has nothing to do with the Democratic National Convention that will be held in Milwaukee next August, Pyritz said.

"This project has been in the works for years," he said. "The plans were developed before the decision was made to hold the convention here."

The encampments will soon become fenced-off work zones with heavy equipment that would pose safety hazards for occupants, Pyritz said.

He could not guarantee those who do not leave by Oct 31 would not be forcibly removed.

"The goal is to get everybody into permanent housing if they want to," Pyritz said.

It would be up to the Wisconsin State Patrol and the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office to enforce the removal order, with possible assistance from Milwaukee police, Pyritz said.

"We want to give (county housing workers) time but still want to move forward with the effort and still do the best we can," Pyritz said, adding that what becomes of the occupants of the camp is largely up to them.

"It's that person's choice," he said.

"When it comes down to it, if they refuse to leave we're going to have to take some steps."

A "regular home"

Another man who lives at the camp, who identified himself only as Steve, didn't seem worried about the notice.

"I'm not living on the street. I just enjoy living outdoors," Steve said Saturday.

"These other people, they're driftwood that don’t know how to live," he said before riding off on his bicycle.

"They should be in a shelter."

A shelter is the only option being considered by Antwon Harrison.

He said a county housing worker has been trying to help him but is not sure what's keeping him from trying to get into a "regular home."

"I'm going to apply for a job. It's at a staffing agency," Harrison said.

"Hopefully, if I get this job, I can save up enough money to do that."