COLORADO SPRINGS — Trash piling up under the highway in Colorado Springs. It’s a constant eyesore for those who live and work near I-25 and South Nevada Avenue.
As the city struggles to keep up with increasing homeless encampments in a worsening economy, News 5 wanted to know is what’s being done about all that trash?
A viewer sent in photos of trash along the curbs and under the highway, telling us she is concerned it's never going to look any better. The site is cleared by numerous agencies, however not one of them visits on a consistent basis.
It's common to see empty chip bags, used cups, and plastic bags rolling in the breeze until they come to rest in piles under I-25 at South Nevada Avenue.
"It’s just a problem and it's ruining our city," said Maren Goltz.
The trash is marring the beauty of the city and she said as homeless encampments under the highway continue to generate trash, Spencer’s Market is seeing fewer return customers.
"They see that and they experience it, they're more than likely not coming back. It puts a sour taste in their mouth coming into this area, this part of town," said Goltz who works at Spencer's.
Periodically, the Colorado Springs Police Department's (CSPD) six-member 'HOT Team’ will come through and clear encampments, as it's illegal to camp in the city.
"The property in question under the viaduct, if there's camping happening under there, we will go enforce it because camping is illegal on private property, no matter who owns it," said Ira Cronin with CSPD.
As News 5 has previously reported, police team up with neighborhood services staff who clear the debris left behind.
"So the city knows that by following the HOT Team around with city services, there's just a constant ... it's almost like playing a game of Whack-A-Mole trying to, citywide, along our creeks and in parking lots and in certain areas keep up with this with this issue,” Cronin said.
But that’s just it, they can’t keep up.
So we took the problem to the other party responsible for keeping this area clean, the landowner. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) owns the land in the right-of-way, so it can maintain bridge safety.
Amber Shipley with CDOT says it relies on its contracted maintenance crews to alert them when the area at I-25 and South Nevada Avenue needs cleared of trash. CDOT also responds to complaints filed by neighbors. Click here to go to that reporting site.
It is cleared of trash on an as-needed basis, Shipley said but we asked if that plans to change given the constant state of trash and debris in the area.
"If you travel along I-25 from Pueblo to Monument, and you see the amount of trash on the highway, our crews are out there. The Center for Employment Opportunities, we contract with them. They're out there every day in different spots of the highway," Shipley said.
We asked her, "Has CDOT considered increasing the number of times a week that you guys go in or just the frequency that you're cleaning up?"
Shipley responded, "Typically what we run into is our crews are responsible for maintaining the safety of our highways for the traveling public ... So it's very limited, because we don't have a dedicated encampment cleanup crew."
The same crews who are filling potholes, mowing, and fixing guardrails to keep the roads safe are also tasked with encampment cleanup, and there is no defined cleaning schedule.
Right now, she said, there is no plan by CDOT to change the current system in place.
CDOT is responsible for hundreds of acres across the state, and said its maintenance budget has not increased in years. Interestingly, when they put trash cans and dumpsters on the land, Shipley said they become dumping sites and create more of a problem.
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