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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
Rubbish pickup along
highways faces delaysQuestion: The H-1 freeway, between the Pali exit and Fort Shafter exit, is absolutely filthy and has been so for months. Who's responsible, and when are they going to be picking this trash up?
Answer: The state Department of Transportation is responsible for the H-1, and the trash you describe should have been picked up by now.
However, because of a shortage of workers and longer intervals between cleaning, the reality is that trash may again be accumulating.
The DOT has a "special services crew" that does drain cleaning, street sweeping and picking up of hazardous debris along the H-1, H-2 and H-3 freeways, as well as Nimitz Highway, Ala Moana and Kalanianaole Highway from Ainakoa Avenue to Lunalilo Home Road, said DOT spokesman Scott Ishikawa.
At full staff, the crew numbers 11. However, there are now only five workers because of retirements and injury. That situation isn't going to change anytime soon because of a hiring freeze.
With less than half the crew available, "we concentrate on only imminent hazards and our street-sweeping operations," Ishikawa said. "The trash should be picked up every five to six weeks."
Q: The southeast corner of the intersection of Kahekili Highway and Haiku Road has been in terrible condition for months, with leaves and trash piled up. It's a terrible eyesore, especially with tour buses passing by often. Who is responsible for cleaning that area?
A: That area is under the jurisdiction of the state Department of Transportation.
The windward landscaping crew is responsible for an area that runs from Kahaluu Bridge to the Likelike, Pali and Kamehameha highways on the windward side, and from Kaneohe Bay Drive, Mokapu Boulevard and Kalanianaole Highway to Makapuu, according to DOT spokesman Scott Ishikawa.
They are primarily responsible for landscaping but pick up trash as well.
Because of a shortage of workers, the cleaning cycle for state roadways in Windward Oahu is "roughly two months," Ishikawa said.
"Currently there is no trash in the area," he told us last week, "but because the cycle is long, there is the possibility that trash left in those areas may not be picked up for almost two months."
Of 20 positions allotted the DOT's windward landscaping crew, five are vacant and will remain so because of a hiring freeze, he said.
The DOT relies "heavily on public complaints regarding rubbish, so we know if we have to deviate from our schedule to do some extra cleaning."
You can call the Highway Division's Oahu District Office at 831-6712.
Auwe
To the woman walking her two large dogs on Puu Panini Avenue. Your neighbors appreciate your picking up and bagging your dogs' poop, but not your disposing of it in their trash bins as you walk home. In the future, please put the smelly bags in your own bin. -- No Name
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