Members of London’s Community and Protective Services Committee unanimously passed an item for direction to council to address garbage littered along a major arterial roadway in London’s south end.
The item, carried 5-0 at the committee’s Nov. 10 meeting, directed city staff to report back to the committee with options for two scheduled clean-ups of Highbury Avenue South between Hamilton Road and Bradley Avenue, as well as enforcement options to prevent the area from being littered.
When introducing the item, ward 1 councillor Hadleigh McAlister began his address by expressing his experiences driving along the road littered with trash.
“I drive along this stretch all the time, and I feel the pain of the community as well” McAlister said. “This is a gateway to our city, the garbage along there is just awful.”
The item also requested that Mayor Josh Morgan discuss with the mayor of St. Thomas and the warden of Elgin County about a potential joint communications campaign, to remind drivers and commercial operators to secure their loads while driving on area roads, including the Highbury corridor.
McAlister said this area of Highbury routinely sees a high volume of traffic between London and St. Thomas. He then brought forward concerns about trucks and other motorists using the roadway and not securing their loads, resulting in debris coming off of them.
When questioned about the scheduling of clean-ups by councillor Jerry Pribil, deputy city manager of environment and infrastructure Kelly Scherr explained challenges, including safety concerns and the traffic impact of the project.
“The challenge is not so much resourcing, but the fact that it requires a full day closure in order to do this work,” she said. “The best thing we can be doing is looking for ways to do some spot clean up where possible.”
Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis questioned Scherr about the scheduling of clean-ups, where she said it is dependent on availability of staff and other detours and closures. Deputy Mayor Lewis said that the city needs a clean up in the fall, particularly after what he said is a “mass inflow of students” in late August and early September.
“We have a mess all over the city,” ward 6 councillor Sam Trosow said.
He added that if additional resources were added to clean Highbury, he thinks that would invite people to dump there.
The committee’s next meeting is on Dec. 1.
