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State Route 51 is the most trashed freeway in Maricopa County, report says

Crews filled 8,019 bags full of plastic bottles, cigarette butts, wrappers, and other trash collected along SR-51 in 2018.

Crews collected more than 1 million pounds of litter from Maricopa County freeways in 2018, and the most was collected along State Route 51.

According to numbers released by the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Maricopa Association of Governments as part of the "Don't Trash Arizona" campaign, State Route 51, which stretches from I-10 to Loop 101, was the most-littered freeway in Maricopa County last year.

Crews filled 8,019 bags full of plastic bottles, cigarette butts, wrappers, and other trash collected along the SR-51. Each bag, according to the release, weighed an average of 13 pounds.

Hector Rivera knows his way around the SR 51 in Phoenix. 

“I go up and down the 51 maybe four or five times a day sometimes,” said Rivera, who owns and operates his own shipping company.

Rivera said between the vehicles and trash, he never knows what his truck will have to avoid.

“On the 51, there’s a lot of traffic, a lot of accidents, but there's also a lot of debris on the freeways,” he said.

According to county officials, crews spend more than 150,000 hours each year removing highway litter, which can cost Maricopa County taxpayers about $4 million.

"One piece of litter may seem small to the person tossing it, but the impact on our state’s economy, environment and safety is significant," the release said.

Crews collected the second most litter along a 17-mile stretch of Loop 202 Santan and the third most along a six-mile segment of Loop 101 from Princess Drive to Loop 202 Red Mountain.

As for Rivera, he had to get back on the road. But before we stopped talking, he had some brilliant advice for all the litterbugs: 

“Stop throwing trash. I carry a bag in my truck, I throw all my stuff in there. When I stop at the gas station, I normally throw it out. But don’t throw it out the window."

Credit: ADOT/ Don't Trash Arizona
Graphic reveals the litter hotspots for Maricopa County in 2018.

The release did report that highway litter as dropped since the start of Don't Trash Arizona, from 130,443 bags collected in 2006 to 89,896 in 2018.

You can report highway litterers on the Don't Trash Arizona website or call the litter hotline at 1-877-3-LITTER (877-354-8837).

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