DAYTON — The Ohio Department of Transportation said it’s collected 81,000 bags of trash off the side of the road so far this year, which is why they are pleading with people to stop littering.
The litter is more than an eye-soar, in some cases it’s caused major problems for drivers, causing traffic delays and backups.
Litter and trash clogged up a highway drain during heavy rain in February, causing one lane to be closed for hours and leading to a traffic backup on I-75 for hours.
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Public Information Officer for ODOT Matt Bruning said, “This year, ODOT has picked up more than 81,000 bags of trash and since 2009 more than 5.2 million bags.”
Bruning said ODOT has collected enough trash to fill every seat inside Ohio Stadium 50 times over. And that’s just counting U.S. and state routes.
“This is stuff that shouldn’t happen. There’s not an ounce of this trash right here. Oh, well, I understand how that would have been – ended up on the side of the highway- this is all preventable,” Bruning said.
ODOT is doing what they can to keep the roads clear of litter, despite other pressing matters, such as filing potholes, and plowing snow.
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“Just do the right thing and put the trash where it belongs,” Bruning said.
He said about $4 million in tax dollars is how much it costs for ODOT to clean up the roadways each year.