Cleanup crews no match for trash on Paseo
PASEO DEL TRASHCAN? Peggy Toya emails her “embarrassment and disgust with the amount of trash that is accumulating along Paseo del Norte in both directions from where the lanes merge from the Interstate 25 overpass to almost Golf Course Road. Also included are the off- and on-ramps for Second and Fourth Street exits.”
Peggy says she called city 311 and has tried to call the state Department of Transportation but has yet to get in touch with someone “to clean up the filth and help make the roadway look like someone cares about keeping our city clean.”
Isn’t it a comment on the metro area that somebody has to routinely clean up after the slobs who live and drive here?
When it comes to Paseo, that somebody is eight employees at NMDOT.
Thomas Kratochvil is assistant district engineer for maintenance for the District 3 office. He says highway cleanup is a daily job, and when drivers “encounter anything that could pose a hazard to the traveling public on our roadways, please do not hesitate to contact our NMDOT District 3 office at 505-798-6600 and we will have it removed as promptly as possible.”
As for regular cleanups, he says some state roadways in District 3, such as N.M. 556 (Tramway), N.M. 423 (Paseo), N.M. 45 (Coors), N.M. 528 (Rio Rancho Boulevard) and a few others are scheduled on a cycle “for additional and more involved litter pickup when manpower, schedules and equipment allows.”
Kratochvil says the eight-person crew “must balance and prioritize the litter pickup with other safety critical maintenance operations such as guardrail and attenuator repairs, concrete wall barrier repairs, crash site/first responder assistance, pothole patching, signs and glare shield repairs and replacement, erosion repairs and improvements, sweeping, mowing, herbicide, and special projects such as graffiti and homeless camp removal/clean up, right of way fence repair, illegal dumping clean up and several other tasks. In addition, all maintenance crews also take care of snow and ice removal duties during winter weather events on the state-maintained roadways inside and outside of the metro area.”
WHAT ABOUT INMATE CLEANUP CREWS?
Kratochvil says because of “an inmate guard shortage and, as of late, eligible inmates as well, we lost the support of an inmate labor program that has historically assisted our crews with litter pickup throughout our district. This has been ongoing for the last year and a half.” NMDOT District 3 “continues to be in discussions with the Los Lunas State Corrections department to re-establish the program so that we may restart this invaluable service to the public.”
How much help did those inmates provide taxpayers? Kratochvil breaks it down to “two work crews averaging seven inmates per crew, that equated to 112 man-hours a day, 560 manhours per week or 2,240 man-hours per month. So as you can see the loss of this labor force is a significant impact to NMDOT District 3 maintenance operations, and specifically litter pickup. That is not to say that we will not continue to address these duties, but they are now prioritized with other safety-related maintenance duties.”
YOU CAN STILL ADOPT A HIGHWAY:
Meanwhile, residents can still join the Adopta-Highway program, which “welcome(s) any volunteer/civic groups, neighborhood associations, or other community-minded individuals to assist NMDOT with litter pickup and general right of way beautification duties. We are grateful for the dedicated volunteer groups that assist us with litter removal.”
The fact there is such a need for garbage pickup along the highways shows that “despite our collective work, the job of litter control will never be complete until we as citizens become diligent at spreading the message ‘Stop littering,’ then pass it on.” And he adds, “Law enforcement issuing frequent citations for littering would provide assistance with litter control as well.”
But then, that’s another manpower issue.