Clean Streets, Clean Lakes
Richard Linster, TLNA
Roger Goodwin, City Streets Superintendent spoke to Tenney Lapham (TLNA),
Old Market Place (OMPNA), and East Emersom Neighborhood Associations about
a pilot program to clean up downtown streets and improve lake water quality.
Goodwin presented a street sweeping pilot program used in the 6th District.
The project included three components: public education, parking enforcement
and sweeping. Public education involved installing 'no parking' signs listing
the four-hour period of parking restriction on a block once a week. Flyers
were mailed to area homes and businesses, and placed on vehicles. Several
public meetings were also held to discuss the project with residents.
Parking enforcement was done Monday through Thursday, 6:30am to 2:30pm,
with warnings and tickets issued to violators. The sweeper was then able
to get curbside, where most street debris settles.
The program ran from May 1 to November 15, 1995. It was devleoped by an
interdepartmental staff parking team and funded by a stormwater management
grant from the Department of Natural Resources.
The results? Streets were cleaner. Collection of debris per curb mile was
twice that of adjoining neighborhoods - 24.3 to 11.4 cubic yards per curb
mile swept, enough to fill the average living room half way to the ceiling.
Water samples collected at Lakeland Avenue showed a decrease in heavy metals,
such as mercury and lead, and suspended solids.
Compliance with parking restrictions also improved during the program, with
a decline in the number of warnings and tickets as the project progressed.
A total of 8,000 tickets were issued - more than half to vehicles registered
outside the area. Overall, residents were pleased with the program and wanted
it to continue.
OMPNA and TLNA would like to be a second site for the program. In April,
representatives from TLNA, OMPNA and East Emerson Neighborhood Associations
(comprising the entire Second District) met with Goodwin and political officials
to discuss the project. Implementation may be inconvenient, but the prospect
of cleaner lakes and streets far outweighs any minor difficulties.
We need to hear from YOU about this! Come to the meeting at the Curling
Club on May 6th at 7:00 p.m. Please call Richard Linster, 251-1937; Ilse
Hecht, OMPNA President, 283-6000, or Barbara Vedder, 249-8428.
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