Regional agency names this road as the Valley’s most littered freeway

PHOENIX — One Valley freeway is litter-ally full of trash.

According to a report from the Maricopa Association of Governments, crews collected more than 104,000 pounds of litter on 15 miles of State Route 51 between Interstate 10 and Loop 101 in 2018.

“Last year we found that ADOT crews collected more than 1.1, actually I think it was over 1.2, million pounds of litter from Maricopa County freeways, so we wanted to see if there were specific spots where the litter was occurring,” Kelly Taft, the association’s communications director, told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Tuesday.

The plastic bottles, cigarette butts, wrappers and other trash from State Route 51 filled over 8,000 trash bags, which each weighed 13.69 pounds on average, according to a press release.

Which freeway is the most littered one in the Maricopa region? Find out here: https://t.co/dbSWBB7Cjr pic.twitter.com/RccdZJdDDj

— MAG (@MAGregion) March 12, 2019

The next most littered areas were a 17-mile stretch of the Loop 202 Santan Freeway from the U.S. 60 to State Route 87, followed by a 6-mile stretch of the Loop 101 Pima Freeway from Princess Drive to the Loop 202 Red Mountain Freeway.

These sections are some of the busiest in the Valley, including their on- and off-ramps, which are common places for litter to build up.

“We also, though, do know that littering tends to occur at reduced traffic speeds, so highly congested areas do tend to see more litter, and SR 51 has its share of congestion, so that is a factor, ” Taft said.

“We also know that littering attracts more litter, so when you start getting accumulations of litter, people are more likely then to toss their litter out into areas that already have litter rather than if they see a nice, clean freeway segment.”

Taft said it costs taxpayers about $332,000 annually to rid State Route 51 from litter, and about $4 million total for all of the Valley’s freeways.

Since the beginning of the Don’t Trash Arizona campaign in 2006, freeways have seen a 31 percent reduction in litter, she said.

That year, crews collected more than 130,000 bags of trash, compared to just under 90,000 in 2018, according to the release.

“Drivers can help decrease litter on Arizona highways in a number of ways. First, it’s extremely easy — simply don’t throw litter out your car window, and don’t let passengers do it,” Taft said.

She said it’s a good idea to keep a travel trash bag in vehicles and to remove loose items from truck beds so they don’t fly out and potentially hit other cars.

Taft said anyone can report highway litterers online or at 1-877-3-LITTER.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Amy Phol contributed to this report.