With Alleys Impassable And City Pickup Suspended, Chicagoans' Trash Is Piling Up After Snowstorm
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Lots of people living in Chicago are dealing with a one-two punch.
Not only are they buried under a foot or more of snow, but they also are stuck with what is in some cases weeks' worth of garbage.
As CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reported Tuesday night, this is a problem that is eating at everyone but the rats.
On top of the snow that is falling, trash is beginning to pile up. Pickup days have been missed, and it's unclear when city garbage trucks are going to be able to get down the alleys.
If neighborhood side streets are impassable a night after the monstrous snowstorm that left well over a foot in some areas, the alleys are impossible.
One little girl named Eleanor was spotted going down the pavement on a sled. But others were not so sanguine about it all.
"It's pretty piled up," said Marcus Williams.
Williams did not mean the snow. He meant the mounds of trash lining his alley.
"Normally on Tuesdays - Tuesday mornings - we see them come out," he said.
But garbage pickup didn't happen on Tuesday. There is so much snow in the alleys that the city won't be collecting trash for the rest of the week.
"You just try and be as thrifty as you can so your trash doesn't pile up," said Tim Noce.
Noce's garbage is not only buried - it's bursting.
"You've got to dig out your trash can to throw away your trash," he said.
Despite the overflowing garbage bins, the Department of Streets and Sanitation said some garbage trucks are being used to help with snow removal - adding to delays in trash pickup.
And there is no way dump trucks will be able to get into the alley as it is.
Williams is patient - for now.
"I'm understandable about that," he said. "I mean, I'd rather have the streets be plowed and cleaned than have my trash picked up right now anyway."
"It's tough, because now the snow is getting almost as tall as the trash cans," added Noce.
The city said it plans on working overtime on Saturday to try and keep up with the piles of snow and trash that are building.
The city also has a little request – help out their hardworking crews by clearing the snow off the top of your garbage and recycling carts, and shoveling them out.
