MEMPHIS, Tenn. —Department of Transportation crews work hard to keep our area beautiful by cutting down grass long I-240. However, with those moving blades, another problem grows as any trash in their path gets shredded up into more pieces.
“When it does shred it, it just blows all up in the street and it gets all over your car for one thing,” driver Jarrod Macklin said.
Much of it ends up in the grassy median and alongside the highway for thousands of drivers to see, like food wrappers, bags and tires.
“That don’t look too good for tourists to come in and see a lot of trash,” driver Doris Fleming said.
TDOT crews say they do regularly pick up the trash, but say sometimes there are a few days between the clean-up and the mowing.
“Most of the time, I see them. Once the workers come to pick it up, once they clean it up, it get back dirty,” Fleming said.
There’s a $1,500 fine for highway littering, but it doesn’t seem to be slowing enough people down.
“I think that’s ridiculous. It’s just nasty. I mean, if you’re doing it out here then what does your home look like?” Macklin asked.
Any law enforcement officer who sees a person littering can take action. And anyone who sees someone doing it can also report it to the TDOT online litter hotline.
But drivers say it’s the litterbugs out there that need to start thinking twice.
“They couldn’t wait until they could get to a garbage or anything? They’re just throwing it out the window, and it makes it look bad because it’s like trash,” Fleming said.
We also reached out to the city about anything they may be doing, but a spokesperson said that’s TDOT’s territory.