Embarrassed by the miles of graffiti along one of its busiest interstates, Portland closed 5 miles of I-84 to remove graffiti, homeless tents, and garbage.

“It’s kind of a test,” city spokesperson Rob Erie said. “We’ve paid millions to have a company paint over graffiti but it always came back. So, we thought maybe we needed to do something bigger.”

Others were not supportive of spending money on the cleanup. Cindy Settee was one of those.

“It’s an attack on the homeless arts community,” Settee said. “Houseless artists can’t afford canvases, so the city is our canvas. I mean their canvas.”

Erie was optimistic that the massive freeway effort would succeed.

“We’re already planning to expand the project by closing Portland’s city center for a week,” Erie said.

When asked about the economic impact of closing the city, Erie was not concerned.

“No one comes downtown anymore,” Erie said. “Even city employees work from home. Frankly, we’re not sure anyone will even notice Portland closed.”

In a related story, Home Depot reported a recent spike in the sales of spray paint.