While our warmer weather means the snow is going way, it's also revealing an ugly truth underneath all that snow – trash. The melting is great, but what the snow leaves behind on the sides of our roadways is not.
MNDot's Anne Meyer says they'll get to it, but have bigger priorities like potholes to take care of first.
“We hear the complaints about trash this time of year, as the snow starts to melt certainly. It is on our list of work to do, but there is priority work to be done as well,” explains Meyer. “It’s a lower level priority. Currently we’re working a lot on potholes and different repairs for guardrails, fencing, things of that nature.”
Meyer says MnDOT also relies on a robust Adopt-A-Highway program, where last year 1,800 volunteer groups picked up 38,000 bags of trash along Minnesota roads. That program isn't available in the busiest area around downtown Minneapolis for safety reasons.
Meyer says as more snow continues to melt, crews will get it cleaned up.
“A lot of folks think this is just people throwing trash out of their windows and in a lot of cases it’s not a secure load,” says Meyer. “So whether you have trash in the back of a pickup truck or other areas trash it getting out there, everybody can do their part to really pay attention to what they have in their own vehicle, and making sure it doesn’t get out and fly into our roadways and ditches.”
The Adopt-A-Highway program is looking to fill around 900 segments of roadway with volunteers right now. You can get more information here.
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