FRESNO (KMJ) — The City of Fresno’s battle against those who drop litter onto local highways is continuing. What was initially billed as a two-week enforcement patrol, is now being extended for another two weeks.
“In a lot of ways our freeways are a calling card to our community”, says City Manager Bruce Rudd.
“[They’re] very indicative of who we are and represent who we are”.
The patrol’s continuation was announced Monday morning outside City Hall. From when the two-week patrol first started (Monday September 5th), figures show traffic officers with Fresno Police issued 89 citations with the majority of those for rubbish finding its way onto to the road from an uncovered load.
“Coming from material that is flying out of a pickup truck and people generally not covering their loads over a trailer”.
But that effort is described as a short-term solution to a problem identified with maintaining local freeways.
“Compounding the problem is that money from the State has not increased as addition miles of freeways around Fresno have been constructed. It’s imperative that our local and state agencies begin working immediately on developing a sustainable solution to our litter problem”, continues Rudd.
The maximum fine for a single offense is $400. Officers will be out until October 5th, unless the decision is made to extend that deadline once again.
“It’s never fun to write a ticket, and it’s never fun to get a ticket. But it’s essential if we’re going to stop a bad behavior that we have all allowed to overtake our community”, explains Fresno City Councilman Steve Brandau.
“Hopefully our citizens will get the message that it’s not OK to litter on the highways around Fresno”.
Hear the report from KMJ’s Dominic McAndrew as it aired:
