From what I've observed in 34 years of living here, Virginia spends as little money on road infrastructure as they can get away with. This is especially noticeable at night, when the lack of street lighting is quite obvious.
Dirty Toronto Roads
- Thread starter George7941
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From what I've observed in 34 years of living here, Virginia spends as little money on road infrastructure as they can get away with. This is especially noticeable at night, when the lack of street lighting is quite obvious.
VDOT would disagree with you. Their annual MS4 reports even tabulate what they removed. See the annual reports at the bottom of the page here:
(The MS4 program is a result of Federal Water Quality requirements and state transportation. Departments who have to get this permit are required to sweep in some circumstances. The MS4 entity I work for has to as well. We do not sweep nearly as often as some Cities, it's focused on urban roads, and we do most of it at night- part of why you don't see it....)
Toronto had a robust street sweeping program for air quality purposes primarily, but has struggled to maintain it in recent years.
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Speak of the devil, the water truck just went by doing its thing, so the sweeper will be appearing shortly I'm sure.
Am I to believe that report or my own lying eyes?
Pretty much every intersection around here has one or more piles of debris that look like this:
I assume that, had a street sweeper been through, that pile of debris wouldn't be there.
Additionally, I suspect that much of what VDOT is taking credit for removing from the streets is actually done by developers as part of their required sediment and erosion control (the developer hires a street sweeper to clean the streets in their development during construction; VDOT reports the amount collected in the report). There are likely streets that were last swept, if ever, when they were built.
(I also do a bit of driving around at night and I have NEVER seen a street sweeper then, either).
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I think expectation and reality are far apart here.
I don't work for VDOT. I don't manage their permits, but I do have practical experience from running these exact permit programs for multiple entities over the last 20+ years.
For us, we sweep roughly 1/4 of our lane miles ONCE per year. The rest are never regularly swept. Why? Because they don't need to be, aren't required to be by a permit, and we don't have enough staff, funding or equipment to actually do so.
My agency manages 4000+ lane miles in my area - and I have - count them - 2 Sweepers permanently assigned across around 20 facilities we dispatch crews out of. (Each costs roughly $225,000 USD when new, and they are maintenance queens...) With a top speed of just over 20 MPH, the sweepers don't cover a lot of ground, and really don't when sweeping at 5 mph.
So yes, you get piles of "stuff" on the roads. We spot clean them if we get calls, or if we have the equipment in the area and its observed. And that typically means a bobcat with a kick broom... But we don't "sweep" miles of roadway that way. And that pile can show up literally minutes after we've swept...
So again, I'm not speaking for VDOT.
I don't work for VDOT. I don't manage their permits, but I do have practical experience from running these exact permit programs for multiple entities over the last 20+ years.
For us, we sweep roughly 1/4 of our lane miles ONCE per year. The rest are never regularly swept. Why? Because they don't need to be, aren't required to be by a permit, and we don't have enough staff, funding or equipment to actually do so.
My agency manages 4000+ lane miles in my area - and I have - count them - 2 Sweepers permanently assigned across around 20 facilities we dispatch crews out of. (Each costs roughly $225,000 USD when new, and they are maintenance queens...) With a top speed of just over 20 MPH, the sweepers don't cover a lot of ground, and really don't when sweeping at 5 mph.
So yes, you get piles of "stuff" on the roads. We spot clean them if we get calls, or if we have the equipment in the area and its observed. And that typically means a bobcat with a kick broom... But we don't "sweep" miles of roadway that way. And that pile can show up literally minutes after we've swept...
So again, I'm not speaking for VDOT.
What is a street sweeper? Signed - City of Atlanta and many of its neighboring cities.
We get enough heavy rain storms here everyone is apparently cool with all the trash just washing down the storm drain and out to whatever outflow the drain empties into. Out of sight and out of mind apparently is the mantra.
We get enough heavy rain storms here everyone is apparently cool with all the trash just washing down the storm drain and out to whatever outflow the drain empties into. Out of sight and out of mind apparently is the mantra.
It needs to be mentioned that all environmentally minded cities in Canada have increased the amount of sand used on the roads and reduced the amount of salt. What gets left behind? Sand. The Salt is on the cars, the busses and eventually into our water sources.
More street sweeping is needed, but the issue is that the existing sweepers are overwhelmed by the amount of sand and need to be emptied far more often and this requires a modified approach for clean-up. More dedicated dump trucks to augment the sweeper teams.
More street sweeping is needed, but the issue is that the existing sweepers are overwhelmed by the amount of sand and need to be emptied far more often and this requires a modified approach for clean-up. More dedicated dump trucks to augment the sweeper teams.
The Potomac river has quite a bit more trash floating in it after a rainstorm.
Pretty much every body of water in this area has water that looks as dark as coffee. I'm amazed when I see yt videos showing clear running streams elsewhere in the country.
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