| (04/01/09) - Does it make you mad when you
see litter thrown from a car? Or, when debris falls from the back of an uncovered truck?
Did you ever wonder where the dilapidated pickup truck is taking those 20 scrap tires?
Citizens can make a difference by being part of Keep Akron Beautiful’s Operation
Coverload. Citizens may call 311 from a land-line, or 330-375-2311 from their
cell phone, to report these illegal actions to the Akron Police Department. It is helpful
if you record the license number, description of the vehicle, driver and illegal activity,
as well as the location and time of the incident. Keep
Akron Beautiful partnered with District 4 of the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT),
the State Highway Patrol and the Akron Police Department-Traffic Division for the third
annual Operation Coverload. The campaign is designed to educate the traveling
public about their responsibility in preventing litter by covering their loads, making our
roadways safer by observing weight and width requirements and keeping trash/leaking fluids
inside their vehicle until they can be disposed of properly. On Friday, March 27, 2009
officers wrote 20 citations while enforcing the above laws on Akron’s expressways. We
must heighten the haulers awareness that flying debris is not only unlawful but very
dangerous to other motorists sharing the highways. Nine of the citations were for covering
and securing loads. Three citations were for grossly overweight loads. One flatbed load
weighed 128,800 pounds and did not have a permit!
The 28th annual Clean Up Akron Week is April
18-25, 2009, and we are looking for volunteer groups to register to clean up public lands
in their neighborhoods during the national Great American Cleanup™. To
kick-off this spring cleaning the 35 affiliates of Keep Ohio Beautiful, Inc. and the 12
Districts of ODOT joined forces statewide to sponsor cleanups on our expressway systems
following the winter thaw.
Where does litter come from? Two of the seven sources are trucks
with uncovered loads and motorists. Keep Akron Beautiful litter collection
crews picked up 42.3 tons of bagged litter last year from Akron’s expressways.
Let’s take action now to save government money and stop the litter from happening in
the first place.
END
 CONTACT:
Paula Davis or Melissa Adams at Keep Akron Beautiful keepakronbeautiful@ci.akron.oh.us or
330-375-2116 |
