Trash along I-10 in Tucson getting ‘out of hand’

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TUCSON (KVOA) – More and more Tucsonans are telling N4T investigators they are frustrated with the growing amount of trash piling up in and out of Tucson along Interstate 10.

Longtime resident Ron Edgell said he feared visitors would be deterred.

“It’s unsightly and you know people can judge [Tucson]”Edgell said.” Well, if you take care of your freeway that way, I wonder what the city streets look like. ”

He’s not alone Ken Zablotny said he believed the garbage collection was out of control.

“We live here in the desert because we love the landscape,” says Zablotny on the side of the road, then animals hit it and it spreads everywhere in a storm. ”

N4T investigators drove east from Tucson and saw a lot of rubbish and piles of rubbish everywhere. We then drove west of Tucson towards Phoenix and it was just as bad. It is the responsibility of the Arizona Department of Transportation to clean up the trash along state roads and highways.

We spoke to ADOT spokesman Doug Nick, who said his office had received numerous complaints about trash across the state, not just Tucson. However, he said Tucson was likely one of the hardest hit areas.

“Our ADOT crews collected 94 tons of trash in the Tucson area in 2020,” said Nick.

Even so, it just seems to scratch the surface. Nick said they are using ADOT maintenance teams, volunteers, and inmates to clean up trash. But ADOT teams need to focus on public safety first.

“And right now that the forest fires are happening, they’re out there to block roads, keep them safe, and so on. It just adds to the effort we have to put in,” said Nick.

The Arizona Department of Corrections has not dispatched cleaning teams for detainees since March 2020 due to COVID-19 security protocols. Nick said inmates are an important part of their cleanup routines.

The N4T investigators reached out to ADCRR who sent us the following statement:

“In March 2020, and in response to the coronavirus pandemic, ADCRR immediately withdrew external work teams. With approximately 73% of inmates fully vaccinated, ADCRR has started resuming inmate work programs and visits. Personal visits and work programs resumed in June and will continue in July as we continue a cautious gradual reopening. ”

Edgell said he was not satisfied.

“I think they are paid from our taxes to do a job and I think they have to do that job and I don’t want to hear excuses that the inmates don’t come out to clean the street,” Edgell said. “You get paid to do it, so let’s do it.”

Nick said ADOT need volunteers and encourage people to help them clean up.

If you have a story for us to investigate, email us at investigators@kvoa.com or call our tip hotline 520-955-4444.

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