Residents decry urban blight of street trash

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This article was published 28/04/2022 (875 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Daniel Nemis surveyed the carpet of litter coating his North End boulevard and a nearby vacant lot Friday. Fed up with the discarded plastic oil bottles, bedding, pop cans and full trash bags, he is calling on the City of Winnipeg to take action.

The 72-year-old retired substitute teacher said the mess in the area of McGregor Street and Pritchard Avenue is an “assault on the neighbourhood’s aesthetic” and is more than concerned residents can combat their own.

“To me, it’s a reflection on the city… What do visitors think?” Nemis said Friday. “I can’t stand this. I don’t want to walk through it. I don’t want to see it.”

Nemis’s son recently took it upon himself to clean a section of the front street. However, new trash carried in with the wind has erased much of the effort. The overflowing garbage cans in the back lane generated a mess too severe for one person to take on, Nemis said.

“The city is owned by 750,000 people — take pride.”

City of Winnipeg crews are scheduled to clean the entire street network over the next five to six weeks, beginning May 1 at 10 a.m., weather permitting. Crews will first tackle main routes, followed by bus routes and collector streets, then residential streets, the city said.

The cleanup project will include bridges, sidewalks and active transport paths. Crews will start tidying boulevards, medians and civic parks May 8.

The city’s curbside yard waste collection program will kick off the week of May 9 for homes in collection area “A.” Homes in yard waste collection area “B” can expect a start the week of May 16.

Public works spokesperson Ken Allen encourages residents to call 311 to report areas that need attention. However, since the city is prioritizing specific routes, filing a report doesn’t guarantee workers will address it sooner.

“If it’s extremely bad, we would send somebody out to inspect it,” Allen said.

Nemis has lived in his North End home for nearly two decades. While his teaching career brought him to all corners of Winnipeg, he says never seen this much litter anywhere else. The garbage problem has been consistent over the years and rampant year-round, Nemis said.

“There are children on this street. I don’t know who a mother or father can allow their children to pass through this, because this is filth, this is disease, it’s dangerous.”

Nemis has called 311 to report his block’s garbage twice this spring, including one call Thursday. He believes it’s the city’s responsibility to clear the litter but the onus also falls on citizens to report such messes.

Less than two kilometres away, community leader Sel Burrows has also been dealing with excessive litter. Sprawling piles of trash spilling into the alley behind a Euclid Avenue residence have been the subject of multiple reports made to 311 in recent weeks.

“In Point Douglas, we do take a little extra care in making sure people keep their backyard and front yards clean,” Burrows said, adding five neighbours contacted him about this particular situation.

The city has been less responsive recently to complaints about litter, he said.

“Sometimes, it’s four or five days before you get a response with an incident number,” Burrows said. “They used to be very good. Within three, four days, somebody would be out.”

City officials were unable to provide a time frame by deadline as to when crews would clean the areas reported by Nemis and Burrows.

“It just diminishes people’s sense of well-being if you’ve got boarded-up houses and garbage all over the place,” Burrows said. “Several things happen: other people stop trying to keep their place nice, homeowners sell and leave, and the people who would be your natural leaders in a community also give up and leave if the city abandons them and allows this urban blight to continue.”

Due to this weekend’s expected storm, the Point Douglas community cleanup scheduled for April 30 has been postponed until May 7.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca