North Fayette Township manager and local businesses come up with plan to clean up Route 22
A month after uncovering a garbage-strewn stretch of Route 22, PennDOT crews were out cleaning the area on Thursday.
However, occasionally sending out cleanup crews isn't the only thing in the works to keep Route 22 and other highways clean.
The stretch of Route 22 all the way from Hanley Farms to the McDonald exit sparked outrage from motorists because it was covered in garbage. Eight member crews from PennDOT undertook the labor-intensive task of picking it all up by hand, which was the first of several actions to keep it clean.
"First, I'd like to thank you for coming out and getting a lot of exposure," said J.R. Mangan, North Fayette Township Manager. "Since that story came out, I got a lot of emails, a lot of calls from businesses who want to help out."
The stretch of Route 22 runs through North Fayette and Mangan said the trash has been a problem for more than a decade. Now, thankful to PennDOT for the cleanup, they still know it's a temporary fix.
"They'll make the road look great for a few weeks and unfortunately, it'll get back to that," he said. "We really appreciate them coming out here."
According to PennDOT, they spend about $1 million per year to keep state highways clean in Allegheny County alone and can only periodically clean this specific stretch. To that end, North Fayette and PennDOT said they're in talks with several local businesses to sponsor an "Adopt-A-Highway" program in order to schedule more regular cleanups.
One of those businesses is the Republic Services Landfill which has promised to help.
While much of the garbage comes from people who throw trash from cars, Mangan said more of it flies from the trucks of commercial haulers headed to the landfill. There are plans to post the highway with signs warning of heavy fines to violators and calls for stepped up enforcement from state police.
"I really believe enforcement, cracking down on commercial haulers, awareness and signage, letting people know: hey we're watching," Mangan said.
The hope is that the actions may become a template for other highways across the state, and Pennsylvania can more effectively rid our roadways of trash.
