CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Dozens of homeless Charlotteans are hidden behind a veil of traffic, pieces of urban ghetto that few ever see.

But over the past month, the city has noticed. They’ve run across trunks, mattresses, garbage cans and other goods making up a string of homeless homesteads. There are so many that on Monday the North Carolina Department of Transportation began cleaning all of it out.

By midmorning, crews had filled enough bags to fill a pickup truck with a trailer. Mike Campbell with the NCDOT said the homeless often choose bridges under Interstate 277 for practical reasons.

“They settle in areas where there's heavier population, like interchanges, and they go up to the interchanges to do their pan handling, and then come back here to sleep,” he said.

Over the past month, the city has gotten complaints about vagrants and trash along I-277 so now it’s responding. City fire crews will remove any dangerous materials like syringes, and police have agreed to help find help for those being displaced.

“That's something police have said they would help take care of,” said Jen Thompson of the NCDOT. “If there are any services available, shelters or any kind of resources for these folks to find some other place to live or get a head start on re-establishing themselves, (the officers) would take care of that.”

Monday night, many of those living under bridges will find their things gone. But Stacey Negron, himself homeless, doubts they'll stay away for long.

“They got to sleep somewhere,” he said. “They'll go right back here.”

The head of Urban Ministries, Dale Mullenix, said he applauds the idea of police helping connect the homeless with services, but he said many of those under bridges are there because there aren’t enough beds available for them.

The NCDOT will finish its initial sweep this week and then wait a few weeks to see how many of the homeless camps come back.

One current solution available to the homeless is Charlotte’s emergency winter shelter. It opened Oct. 1, earlier than in previous years. Homeless advocates said many people living on the streets may not know it’s now open. It’s located at 3410 Statesville Avenue in northwest Charlotte, and it will remain open through April.