Cleaning up heart of city is government work
It’s always heartwarming when individuals step up to keep a corner of our city clean — even one that is underground and out of sight for most residents. It’s also frustrating that so many corners seem to overwhelm the efforts of workers paid to keep areas neat and clean.
The new Acequia Trail Underpass, a tunnel under St. Francis Drive near the busy Cerrillos Road intersection that helps pedestrians and cyclists cross the road safely, could become a problem. Because the tunnel is largely out of sight, litter could build up. It doesn’t, but only because of Rhoady Howe, a homeless man who often sleeps in the tunnel. He gets up every morning and picks up the beer cans, tissue, needles, razors, bottle caps and any other debris he finds.
Picking up after he gets up is part of Howe’s routine. And good for him. More of us citizens should stoop to pick up trash where and when we see it. The streets would be cleaner, and we would likely stay in better shape. However, even though we admire Howe’s efforts, the backstop for keeping a much-traveled area of town clean should not be a homeless guy. (By the way, maybe he needs help finding a place to live.)
The city of Santa Fe needs better systems in place so areas that attract litter and other messes are cleaned more frequently. A city spokesman told reporter Olivia Harlow that Santa Fe has more than 150 miles of trails, each tended to at least once weekly.
However, if Howe can find trash every morning in the tunnel, the Acequia Trail Underpass might need more frequent attention. The underpass, after all, cost the city $6 million to build, work that took more than a decade to complete. It links trails across busy roads and is a boon for safety. But should the trail become littered and foulsmelling, it will cease to be attractive to bikers or walkers. Frequent cleaning is a smart investment.
The same issue plagues other popular city public places. We have seen trash cans overflowing at the Cross of the Martyrs at different times of the week. That’s not just a popular place; it’s a destination for visitors. We cannot know how many hundreds of people we send home thinking Santa Fe is a dirty place where people don’t pick up their trash. That’s the impression this landmark too often gives.
An underpass where visitors and locals alike need access below to avoid heavy traffic above should not become a trouble spot. Right now, Howe is taking care of the problem — and for that, we thank him. A few years back, another citizen, Rick Martinez, led the drive to clean up the caboose that sits at the St. Francis Drive and Cerrillos Road intersection, near the tunnel. Like Howe, Martinez saw a problem that government should have fixed, but did not.
While we appreciate the efforts of these individuals, we would like to see government work more efficiently and smarter. We would still need volunteers — but perhaps not so urgently. In the meantime, perhaps a city official or a nearby business can lend Howe a few plastic bags, a stick for grabbing trash and gloves. That way, at least, he won’t have to be picking up trash with his bare hands.