|
Litter Issues on Hwys. 1 & 68 – Questions and Answers
- What
is the problem?
-
Who is at fault?
-
Who is responsible for removing litter
from State highways?
-
What is the City doing to meet these
challenges?
- How can I help?
-
Contacts
-
Download FAQ -
PDF
-
How long does litter
take to decompose?
-
What is the problem?
The City of Monterey prides itself on its beauty. Visitors
from all over the world continue to visit our City because of its
historic amenities and clean appearance and to visit attractions such as
the Monterey Bay Aquarium. When citizens and visitors drive State
Highways 1 and 68 to reach our city, they are blinded by the amount of
litter in view. Letters, phone calls and complaints are received daily.
The litter on these highways also frequently reaches our storm drains
and eventually finds its way to the Bay.
- Who
is at fault?
Where does litter come from?
Litter flies out of open beds of pick up trucks, sometimes garbage
haulers have debris in the hoppers (top portion of the service trucks)
and it flies out, sometimes people hauling their material to the
landfill do not secure their loads properly and material escapes, and
sometimes people carelessly toss their trash out the window.
Return to
top
- Who is responsible
for removing litter
from State highways?
The cleaning
of highways falls on the California Department
of Transportation –
Caltrans. Unfortunately, the simple fact is that Caltrans Maintenance
Division has four employees to maintain the areas from Garapata Bridge
in Big Sur to Santa Cruz. Maintenance priorities are fence repairs and
safety issues and then, if at all possible, the cleaning of the
highways. Small sections of the highways may be adopted and cleaned once
or twice per month. Two Monterey sections are adopted, one by Victory
Toyota and one by Lexus. But many sections cannot be adopted due to
safety issues. Those are the portions that continue to build up with
litter causing safety and health concerns.
-
What is the City doing to
meet these challenges?
Thanks to a generous donation
from Monterey City Disposal Service, the City of Monterey has contracted
to have several on and off ramps cleaned once or twice per month. This
will help a great deal, but two ramps (the first ramp to exit Monterey
from Carmel and the ramp exiting Monterey to Highway 68 eastbound) were
not included due to safety issues. The Highway 68 ramp is by far in the
worst condition and most frequently traveled by visitors going back to
Highway 101 and to the airport.
The City has asked Caltrans to
install the signage “Don’t Trash California” in our area. They are also
working with City staff to clearly define adoptable sections. Staff will
then encourage more groups to help keep this area clean and beautiful by
adopting more sections of the highway.
Return to
top
-
How can I help?
Be aware! Secure loads in your
vehicles. If you are transporting loose material in a truck or trailer,
ensure that it is tarped properly, especially the back end. If you see
vehicles or commercial vehicles with litter coming out of their
vehicles, get the license plate, location, time and date and call the
company. If you see any of the garbage trucks dropping litter, get the
license plate number, location, time and date and call them and report
it.
If you see a vehicle drop
something in the road that can cause an accident (couch, box of nails,
large pieces of wood, etc.), get the license plate number, time,
location, date and call 911 immediately. The California Highway Patrol (CHP)
can and will ticket someone that does not secure their load properly as
this could cause an accident. If it is just litter, the CHP would
actually have to witness this themselves in order to fine them (do not
call 911 for litter only).
Return to top
-
Contacts
> California Department of Transportation
– Caltrans
District 5
50 Higuera Street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-5415
Monterey
Peninsula area: 372.0862
> California Highway Patrol
(non-emergency): 796.2100
> Waste Management Services:
384.5000
> Monterey City Disposal Services:
372.7977
> BFI:
775.3840
> TriCities Disposal:
888.678.6798
> Of course, you can always send comments to
the City’s Suggestion Hotline
suggest@ci.monterey.ca.us
(email),
646.3799 (voice mail),
646.3793 (fax), or
mail c/o
City Hall, Monterey, CA 93940
Return to
top
- Download a
PDF version of this page
Version 1
August 29, 2005
- Do you know
how long it will take to decompose certain types of litter
to a
non-recognizable form?
| > |
Styrofoam |
Never |
| > |
Aluminum |
80 - 100 years |
| > |
Plastic Bags |
10 - 20 years |
| > |
Plastic Containers |
50 - 80 years |
| > |
Cigarette Butts |
10 - 12 years |
| > |
Leather Shoes |
25 - 40 years |
| > |
Paper
Containers |
2 - 5 months |
|
