Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS A stripped down bicycle frame lies in the foreground as a cleanup crew removes piles of items, debris and trash from the vacated homeless camp in Manchester Monday. (Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS)

MANCHESTER — A team of state police troopers, Department of Transportation officials and bio-hazard cleanup experts descended on the so-called “Exit 4 homeless camp” Monday, a week after roughly 40 people staying at the camp were ordered to vacate due to safety concerns.

Local and state health officials ordered the camp, which occupants accessed by walking up the Exit 4 onramp to Route 93, shut down earlier this month, and gave occupants until last Tuesday to remove their possessions and vacate the property.

The site, along the banks of the Merrimack River, was home to as many as 40 people, a number of whom relocated there after officials shut down similar encampments across the city, including sites under the Amoskeag Bridge, behind the Firestone store at 300 Elm St. and in an area off Douglas Street known as “the bucket.”

The hazards caused by the Exit 4 encampment included dangers stemming from occupants walking along the exit ramp and nearly being struck by motorists.

Earlier this month, occupants were warned by authorities that they were not allowed to camp on state property, and needed to vacate.

Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS A cleanup crew dressed in protective gear tends to the arduous task of gathering up and removing items, debris and trash from the so-called Exit 4 homeless encampment on Monday. (Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS)

In the days leading up to and after the camp’s shutdown, state police visited the remaining occupants several times and advised them that the DOT and a cleanup company would remove all items.

Monday morning, troopers closed the on-ramp, and several trucks from the DOT and the cleanup company — New England Trauma Services — arrived a short time later.

The 10 or so remaining occupants were offered assistance in gathering the items they wanted to take with them. Items that the residents wanted to keep were piled up along the guard rail.

Several New England Trauma Services representatives donned protective suits and went to work removing remaining items, a mix of personal belongings and bicycles, generators, furniture, and tarps. Some items could be seen in the river, which currently has low water levels.

Representatives of local social service agencies, including Manchester Mental Health, have made several visits to assist the residents.

Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS A state police trooper examines the items left behind when occupants of the homeless camp along the Merrimack River in Manchester vacated the area over the past week. Officials closed down the camp for safety purposes. (Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS)

Encampments have now become scattered across Manchester, but each one has become smaller in size. The large encampments that appear to bring too much attention have become less popular.

A woman named Kelly, who has been homeless and is now an advocate for the homeless, said she lives at another location but said state police “were awesome to work with.”

When asked where the people would relocate to, she didn’t have an answer.

–JEFFREY HASTINGS