Washington State Department of Transportation announcement.
PUYALLUP – Travelers who use westbound State Route 512 near Puyallup will want to plan extra travel time into their trips the week of May 23.
Beginning Tuesday, May 24th, Washington State Department of Transportation maintenance crews will close the left lane of westbound SR 512 while crews from the Department of Corrections remove litter from the center median.
The lane closures will occur each day from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in two-mile increments on the following sections of westbound SR 512:
- Tuesday, May 24th: 31st Avenue Southwest to South Meridian Avenue.
- Wednesday, May 25th: Portland Avenue East to Canyon Road East.
The lane closure may lead to long backups. Travelers may want to avoid the area if possible. Drivers are encouraged to slow down and pay attention to work zones.
Before heading out the door, travelers can find highway conditions on the WSDOT app and the WSDOT regional Twitter feed.
I have two comments:
COMMENT #1: Thank you DOT for your litter removal efforts.
There are three kinds of litter.
ACCIDENTAL LITTER is what can happen even though citizens are doing their best to contain litter. Based on the laws of physics, at 60 mph, litter can sneak out the window, sunroof or out the back of a truck or trailer without the litter owner even knowing. This has even happened to the infalible Joe Boyle. Note: I saw it happen in my rear view mirror even though my load was covered and tied down. Ultimately I did the responsible thing by backtracking to pick up my own litter.
INTENTIONAL LITTER is what happens when ignorant, irresponsible, goofballs throw cigarette butts, food wrappers, and you name it out the window or they allow materials to fly out of their unsecured truck and trailer loads.
ILLEGAL DUMPERS are cheaters and law breaking scoflaws who purposefully avoid dumping fees by dumping their garbage, mattresses, cars, boats, RVs, and you name it on other’s private property or on public property such as roadsides.
Litter iddiots damage the planet, cause fires, injure and kill fellow citizens and create an almost totally unnecessary work load for the DOT and private citizens. That means wasted time and money picking up other’s thoughtless litter.
When travelling in a vehicle, how hard is it to toss litter into a litter bag or onto the floorboard? Not hard! Let the litter accumulate. When the driver reaches home or anyplace with a trash can, empty the litter into an authorized receptical.
I am confident many will not be pleased with my using dispariging descriptors for litter goofballs as they will consider me to be judgmental. If they think that I am being judgmental, they are correct. I judge people who purposefully and illegally litter and dump to be ideal candidates for fines, jail, and having their vehicles impounded for 30 days at a time.
If any reader thinks my behavioral modificatiion ideas, as described above, seem extreme, that is because they are extreme. Conversely, if my ideas were implemented, the amount of litter and illegally dumped material would plummet closer to zero. DOT and private citizens could then be free to spend time and money improving the earth instead of wasting time and money compensating for litter / dumping idiots.
Based on my decades of experience contacting litter / dumping goofballs both as a civilain and a police officer, I have a successful track record motivating citizens to stop their bad behavior.
Joseph Boyle – A Guy Who Picks Up Litter 4 Times Per Week
AMEN Joe ! Now, for a story about the piggiest state in the US…based on fact.
36 years ago my wife, Jen, and I were near journey’s end on our way to Ft Lewis. We started that trip at Ft Monmouth, NJ and, for the first time, used I-90 the entire way. After 9 states, 6 days, and about 2500 miles we entered WA state. The last time I had been in WA was DEC 1967….after getting Basic & Infantry training, and on my way to Germany. As you can see, we took our time…visiting relatives in Euclid, OH and seeing the sights along the way.
This was our 6th and last driving trip across the US since I joined the US of Army. You see, Jen and I are both from Oregon and that’s where all of our families lived. So, whenever we could we visited the homesteads. The first trip across the US was from Ft Monmouth, NJ….I had just finished an 18-month-long course on Computer Repair and was on my way to Vietnam. We followed I-80 most of the way, joined I-84, then I-5, and finally OR State Hiway 20 to Lebanon, OR. It was a lovely 7-day trip….hardly any trash on the roads in any state, especially Oregon.
Then there were 5 more across-the-US driving trips:
• Back to Ft Monmouth, NJ to be an Instructor
• Back to Oregon to get the family (Jen & son Kirk) home while I went to Germany…they followed 3 months later.
• To Ft Knox, KY from Bayonne, NJ (with a new son, Jason, in tow)
• Back to Oregon for a vacation
• Back to Ft Knox, KY
During all of these trips we were quite pleased to see most of the hi-ways and bi-ways were relatively clean. The only place we saw garbage on streets and local roads was in the vicinity of very-large cities, particularly on the East Coast (i.e., New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania). Get away from the population-centers, however, the roadside garbage pretty-much disappeared !
And so, here we are, getting back to the beautiful Northwest. As we drove across the border between Idaho and Washington we immediately noticed the trash alongside the freeway. In fact, I made a remark to Jen, something along the lines of, “Hey! What’s with the crap all over the hi-way? I thought we were in the Pacific NW where people cared about the environment, like they do in Oregon !” And so….the further West we went, the greater the amounts of crap.
Well….it has gotten even worse over these 36 years. I have seen trash thrown on the ground next to trash cans at bus stops, fast-food places, stores, and other locations, that are either empty or have hardly any garbage in them at all. Parking lots are full of discarded containers. Our roadways are one big, long garbage dump. Even our parks are nothing more than a place to dump stuff…including dog crap. Oh, here’s a good one….a doggy-crap bag filled with crap, thrown alongside the trail. You have got to be kidding me !!
I was walking back from a park one day, almost home, when a guy in a vehicle headed towards me threw out a MacDonald’s cup. I was infuriated and immediately went into the center of the street, with my arms outstretched in a “WHY” pose. He stopped in front of me, eyes incredulous. I motioned for him to roll his window down…he shook his head and drove off, quickly.
Why is this detritus explosion happening ? Because far-too-many lazy, n’er-do-well, inconsiderate slobs exist in this state. And they get away with it, because citizens are too afraid to say anything and the litter laws are not enforced….did you notice the freeway signs about littering have pretty-much disappeared ?
What to do?
Stop littering if you do…be ashamed of yourself.
For those that don’t litter….good for you !
For those that pick up litter…double-good for you !!
For those of you that look the other way…get a pair and admonish those that do.
And, lastly, many thanx for your letter Joe.
Mr. Eric Chandler,
Thanks for your letter backing my play.
It reminded me of the several times during a traffic stop while I was in a marked patrol car with my emergency police lights on in full uniform, I would ask the driver to put their cigarette down. I had in mind that they could place it in an ashtray inside their vehicle and thereby not be a hazard to me. Yes, I have had criminals try to hit me in the face with a lit cigarette.
Instead of using an ashtray, they would frequently take one last long drag on the cancer stick and then toss it out the window onto the roadway right in front of me.
As the cigarette hit the top of the arc I could see the look on their face. “Oh no, what I can’t believe I just did that in front of a police officer.”
With a flair of showmanship and emphasis, I would follow the arc of the cancer stick up until it reached the peak and then follow it down to the ground as it was overcome by gravity.
Why did they do that? Because they are in such an engrained habit of throwing buring material out of their car. They do it all the time.
The results in those cases were as follows: #1: I would make them exit the vehicle and pick up the cigarette butt. #2: I would issue a ticket for tossing burning material out of a car which was $1,075.00. Expensive, yes, but burning material burns forests, houses, and kills people.
One time the driver was smart enough to not toss it out the window. She handed the cancer stick to her teen adult daughter. The daughter threw it out the passenger window. $1,075.00 ticket for the passenger.
If they complained to 75 of their friends and relatives about the “nasty” cop who gave them a $1,075.00 ticket, then I educated 76 – 77 citizens. As you say, we need more enforcement and zero tollerance.
Joseph Boyle – A guy who knows our world can be better.
Love it! EKC