Trash troubles

By Mike Savage
WPPR Demorest

State transportation officials are stepping up efforts to combat a growing trash problem on Georgia’s highways.

The Georgia Department of Transportation says in Northeast Georgia alone, workers have collected more than 17-thousand of bags of trash from Interstates and highways this year at a cost of more than 200-thousand dollars.

The DOT says the trash picked up is usually tossed from cars, debris from unsecured truck loads and garbage that is illegally dumped.

DOT spokeswoman Teri Pope says highway trash is unsightly as well as a safety hazard. “We get calls every week from people describing situations when a plastic bag or cheeseburger wrapper blew onto their windshield, and the can’t see. It shocks them. Pope says, “some people have crashes and lose control of their car because litter blew onto their windshield and blocked their line of sight.”

Overall, the agencies trash removal plan is costing Georgia taxpayers millions. Statewide, the DOT says it spent 14 million dollars last year on highway trash pickup.