The New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) is considering seeking the assistance of the New Mexico Corrections Department to help with the growing litter problem in Albuquerque.
A spokesman for the NMDOT told KRQE News that it might bring back an inmate assistance program to help the city clean up areas plagued by increased trash, debris and other rubbish.
“The litter is getting really bad, from what I see,” Franklin Alvarado, an Albuquerque resident, told KRQE News. “It’s kind of sending a bad message with all the litter and stuff.”
KRQE News discovered a particular problem area along a broken fence near I-25 and the Pan American Freeway. Litter has been piling up for weeks at that location. And empty cardboard boxes, food containers, soiled clothing, abandoned shopping carts, cans and bottles are visible throughout the city.
Alvarado said that the homeless situation is responsible for much of the trash, although the litter could be coming from anywhere.
“I still see a lot of fecal matter, a lot of bottles with urination inside of them,” Alvarado told KRQE News. “Eight out of 10 has to do with the homeless.”
City officials said staff shortages and increased demand haven’t helped the problem. Its Clean City Program normally attends to graffiti, weeds and litter removal. Highway crews have been added to deal with solid waste removal and homeless encampment cleanups. But those requests have risen, according to KRQE, from 28 a week between January and mid-August. From Aug. 17 to 24, however, there were 61 cleanups, including those involving the closure of Coronado Park on Aug. 17.