Sick of litter on PA highways? Notify PennDOT. Best chance we got

Submitted by Ribzee t3_11sc1w3 in Pennsylvania

I run a volunteer organization that picks up litter on Lehigh Valley streets, sidewalks, and storm drains on the regular. We can't safely remove trash from highways. I cleaned an on-ramp to Rt. 378 in Bethlehem once. Never again. Motorists do not care if they run you over. PennDOT has the resources and authority to divert traffic to safely clean up roadside litter. Please consider submitting a Customer Concern on their website. The more people who log a complaint, the better the chances that they will act. Here are the steps:

  • Start on the PennDOT website: https://customercare.penndot.gov/
  • Click Submit new concern
  • Choose Remove something from road
  • Choose Debris/litter
  • Choose On the roadside
  • Enter mapped location and/or enter a street address
  • Enter description and picture if you have one
  • Enter contact info
  • Submit
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Comments

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SamuelLCompassion t1_jccyzzk wrote

I appreciate you.

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Ribzee OP t1_jcczkkq wrote

Aw, you're so nice. Thank you! I love what I do. I get outside, fresh air, sun, a little exercise, and I leave places better than I found them. Just wanna get those highways looking better and PennDOT is tired of me. I've successfully gotten a bunch of people on various social platforms to submit complaints about roads in the LV and elsewhere. Crossing fingers that more and different voices move the needle.

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Exodys03 t1_jcdub0l wrote

Bless you. Littering is one of my biggest pet peeves. It is the epitome of not giving a damn about your neighbors or community. You shouldn’t have to do that but I appreciate that you are willing to take responsibility for other people’s irresponsibility.

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Ribzee OP t1_jcejf5f wrote

You're welcome! I picked it up (pun intended) as a Covid-safe activity early in the pandemic and never stopped. Very satisfying. I'm now actively working with Allentown to roll out educational or cleanup events that engage the community. We want to bring attention to the problem of littering, educating residents about why it's bad and to encourage them to help clean it up, even if it's just in front of their own house.

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Euphoric-March-8159 t1_jcdd498 wrote

Our highways are filthy, it’s embarrassing. I can’t believe those plastic bags are still given away freely. They are everywhereeee

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NotNowDamo t1_jcf1k0m wrote

Saddest thing is seeing red sheetz bags stuck up high in trees in some of the most remote spots in our state!

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Ribzee OP t1_jchn7vi wrote

I once documented the saga of a plastic bag stuck in a tree outside my work. This was back when blogging was hot. The story grew legs, so many people followed its condition and asked about it offline too. I pitched the story to NPR and got on-air about it. If you're curious, it's a 5 min interview here (I think you have to download it to listen, but they also wrote about it): https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2010/06/14/127838433/-windy-a-plastic-bag-caught-in-a-tree-is-kathy-frederick-s-obsession

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NotNowDamo t1_jcl7sm5 wrote

For other reasons, I remember the snow.storm that took out Windy. Awesome, thanks for sharing.

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Ribzee OP t1_jcl8paw wrote

I'm scared to listen to that interview again. Only listened to it once when it aired live, then again with my husband later in the day. Did I sound like an idiot? I can't remember. I can see why some actors and actresses have never seen their own films. I almost puked before I had to go on air due to nerves. But it was such a great story and I wanted people to know about it. For the record, the best response comment I got about the interview was "That was a driveway moment," meaning they were so taken by the story driving home from work that they sat in their driveway to listen to the end. The worst comment I got was "That woman needs mental help." Har.

Yeah, that storm was something, wasn't it? I remember it well too because I think our work shut down for 4 days, which never happens.

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NotNowDamo t1_jcubh53 wrote

Honestly, I didn't listen, I read the article. I just figured the article was a transcript from the interview, and you came off as perfectly normal.

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Ribzee OP t1_jcejofj wrote

My group recently cleaned wooded areas along roads where people just chuck stuff out car windows or things tumble in from wherever. Disheartening to find so many plastic bags, many with contents, buried just under the soil. Been there for years. We're happy to get it out, but then you think "How many more bags are out there?" Ugh.

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pekepeeps t1_jcmw4rv wrote

This is just nonsensical to use plastic bags. It drives me crazy. Like at wawa. They want to put one item in a bag and I’m like no, please no bag as I have hands to take it to my car 5 feet away.

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snuffy_tentpeg t1_jcd1ov1 wrote

I reported some abandoned furniture on an access ramp shoulder off 422.

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Ribzee OP t1_jcd2ozj wrote

Excellent! Hope someone acts on it. I keep waiting for the Rt 512 off-ramp of Rt 22E to get cleaned. It's a tough spot because it's a severe bend in the road, but that's why no one other than PennDOT can get at it. Gotta re-route traffic. I mean, it wouldn't take long, less than an hour with a few people, but they have to block the lane a bit and everybody hates that. Still, I'd like to see it gone before I die. Geesh.

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Spud_Rancher t1_jcd8wr7 wrote

Is The Lounge at the Phoenixville/Collegeville exit still a thing?

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cjl2441 t1_jcdai7q wrote

I highly recommend the Customer Care page in general. I’ve used it 3 times and there was a crew out there the next morning each time.

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ThePopeJones t1_jcdxe5t wrote

There's been a jug of piss on 322 between Philipsburg and Port Matilda. It's been there almost 2 years. It's about a mile from an adopt a highway sign. A Penndot depo is a little further up the road.

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WearySeaTurtle t1_jcexrqf wrote

Oo good call op. The amount of trash is insane. How hard is it to keep trash in your car to throw out later? There are freaking trash cans at gas stations. That's where I depose my trash.

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Ribzee OP t1_jceyqno wrote

The amount of takeout food I find half-eaten, lying in a curb, is astounding. Like, they just ate in their car, decided they were done, and made the street their garbage can. I haaaaate picking up half-eaten food, more so when the food is wet/soggy, or it's summertime, or especially when it's both. Thank you for being a normal person.

Edit to add: At first I thought you were referring only to food trash. I don't know why I thought that. I'm tired. Anyway, yeah. Trash overall is ridiculous. I've estimated I've picked up 15,000 lbs of it with my volunteer group (80% of it just me) over the last two years. People just don't care. They have accepted trash in the environment, don't mind it, add to it, and won't do a thing to rid of it.

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Prestigious-Buy1774 t1_jcf7rbh wrote

The way our roadsides look is awful and pathetic. Ppl are just plain slobs, all the way down to those that throw their cigarette butts out the window. There are littering laws, but only a $300 fine, and have virtually no effective way to enforce it. The only chance is if a cop sees it happen. But they usually have bigger fish to fry. Put a much higher fine on it to put some more teeth into the law and have a campaign to report and stop it. Ppl don't care enough. It is disgusting

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Prestigious-Buy1774 t1_jcf8cln wrote

Many thanks for what you are doing!!!🫡🫡🫡

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Ribzee OP t1_jchnahl wrote

Welcome! And you're right. Littering is small potatoes to law enforcement. I get it. But I don't know how to make people stop doing it either. It's a quality of life issue.

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Allemaengel t1_jcg7aeq wrote

I was a part of an Adopt-a-Highway in Bucks County and I now work for a Township public works department in the same area. Cleaning up roadside trash and outright full-scale dumping represents a significant part of my job.

The trash is relentless, the drivers reckless and, in addition to the slobs, a lot more comes off top-loading trash trucks and blows from curbside residential trash and recycling cans than people would guess.

In any case, working in Bucks County, growing up in the Lehigh Valley, and living in the Poconos, I can see we are particularly trashy as a state. I've been to a number of other states with a fraction of the roadside trash that we have.

I can honestly tell you PennDOT doesn't have the staffing or budget to do much more than they already do.

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Ribzee OP t1_jchou33 wrote

Yep, relentless is the word. Some people ask me how I cope, knowing that in weeks and sometimes mere days, the trash will reaccumulate. I've had a couple people drop out because they hated knowing it would always come back.

But my thought is that whatever I can get out of the environment today, this week, this month, is trash that won't harm the environment, people, or wildlife and won't make it to waterways where that's the last anyone will ever see of it.

My sister travels a bunch around the country and always texts me the state of cities she visits. They are always, always better than Pennsylvania. Gov. Wolf rolled out a Litter Action Plan in the state November '21 and I've yet to really see any change. Gonna take a herculean effort to shift away from "trash acceptance."

Thank you for what you do in your job. So necessary!

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Allemaengel t1_jci2lub wrote

Thank you and the same to you.

I was blown away by how clean Vermont was when I visited. Actually Kentucky was pretty decent too.

Personally, I hate the muddy water-filled tires loaded with mosquito larvae the worst of all.

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Ribzee OP t1_jci594h wrote

Aw ,man. Hate tires! I have a hard enough time rolling them out of the woods or whatever. I'm really bad at rolling them straight! But then to also have the water sloshing around inside. Sometimes I'd rather leave 'em.

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Allemaengel t1_jcjlhqj wrote

So true. I try to get them out due to the mosquito-breeding issue and West Nile virus.

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laurajodonnell t1_jces635 wrote

Thank you!!! I typically pick up trash along the roads where I live, but they are way less busy than highways.

A couple months ago some jerk threw 16 bags that were roughly 20 gallons each of insulation from their house in a local creek bed 😡 My boyfriend and I made sure to clean it up, but it irritates me so much that people can’t dispose of their trash and recycling properly.

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Ribzee OP t1_jceu35z wrote

Thank you for getting the insultation away from the water. People are terrible. Thanks to you and your BF for being awesome ones!

btw, I love what NYC Sanitation does. They have surveillance cameras trained on areas where people dump. When they do, they capture the plate, impound the vehicle, and impose a $4k fine. Love to see it. But too often people trash our state and aren't caught, leaving either volunteers or PennDOT to spend time, effort, and money cleaning up after them. Ugh.

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mistreatedlewis t1_jcf3fzu wrote

Thanks for what you do to clean up the streets, it does not go unnoticed or unappreciated.

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Ribzee OP t1_jchnnhn wrote

Thank you. Even though it can be a gross, physically demanding job, I'm glad to do it because there's that feeling at the end when I look back and see a really clean area. It's very gratifying and worth the effort.

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No-Setting9690 t1_jcf7yiy wrote

Right up my wife's alley. She complains about the trash everywhere all the time.

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Prestigious-Buy1774 t1_jcf97w2 wrote

Thank you!!! Put more teeth into the law. Maybe a $3000 fine , and a mandatory sentence of having to pick up trash along roads. Contact our state reps to put pressure on them. That's what I'm going to do since I now know there are many other ppl who actually care

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Ribzee OP t1_jcho1v5 wrote

Yep, lots of people care, but we're all out here wondering what to do about it. My NextDoor is blowing up about it and someone started their own litter-picking group, which is amazing. Their first outing is on Saturday. Really great to see people like "Welp. Nobody from the city or state is gonna get it. Might as well be me." And that's what I'm trying to convey with my own group, plus my meetings with city admins in Allentown. We're working on education and outreach programs now, trying to get the community involved in caring about their neighborhoods.. I'm hopeful.

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The_Wizard_of_Bwamp t1_jcfcvym wrote

Thank you! It looks like a garbage truck littered trash all along 222 this week. I've never seen it this bad before.

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Jimtheanvilneidhardt t1_jctr9mt wrote

I don’t understand why we they don’t have incarcerated folks pick it up like every other state.

PA might have the trashiest highways in the country

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Ribzee OP t1_jcui262 wrote

Looks like NJ is resuming their inmate trash collection program. May be hope for PA (haven't looked that up yet) https://www.state.nj.us/transportation/uploads/comm/news/details/comm_np_20210503_161932_NJDOTInmateLitterandAdopt-A-HighwayProgramsbeginasLittercampaigncontinues.pdf

Can't find anything official about PA, just this one complaint letter to the editor https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/opinion/2023/02/a-drive-down-route-33-is-all-it-takes-to-see-the-littering-problem-on-pas-highways-letter.html

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kushpovich t1_jce1lb2 wrote

PennDot can barely answer the fucking phone but I’m sure they’re gonna send people out to clean trash

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The_TP_Protege t1_jcdervk wrote

They're too worried about stealing our tax money.

The drains are so clogged in the highways near me there's trees growing out of them. I hope to fuck I hydroplane in my truck because if I do they're getting sued

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Aggravating_Foot_528 t1_jcdg42h wrote

They have sovereign immunity so you're not going to get much in return. They'll cover your deductible, maybe.

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JMPship t1_jcdil0f wrote

If they guy wants to crash his truck who are we to stop him? Seems like a lot of nonsense to go through to prove a point to an entity that doesn’t care one bit.

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thescorch t1_jcdku5n wrote

There's some instances where there are exceptions to sovereign immunity like dangerous road conditions. I think there's a similar law that covers the municipalities too.

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The_TP_Protege t1_jcdhoz8 wrote

Nah that's not true you gotta prove that your car was safe and their property damage it.

My buddy got them to replace his subframe and control arms, rack and pinion, etc when a steel plate demolished it

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