The A4174 Ring Road will get a spring clean during March when South Gloucestershire Council conducts a clean up operation to remove litter from the verges and central reservation.
Starting on 8 March for three weeks, there will be off-peak lane closures between 9.30am and 3.30pm to ensure the safety of the workers clearing the accumulated litter. The rubbish has either been thrown out of vehicles or has escaped from unsecured loads.
As well as cleaning the rubbish up, the council will also be taking enforcement action against drivers who create the litter problem. A joint operation between council officers and the police will run parallel with the clean up operation and will target both individual motorists who throw rubbish from their cars and hauliers who allow waste to escape from their vehicles. This enforcement operation follows on from a similar successful initiative last year.
Littering motorists will be liable for a £75 fixed penalty notice whilst hauliers can be fined considerably more – a local company recently received a fine and costs totalling £3,520 after being found guilty of allowing waste to escape from one of its vehicles onto the Ring Road.
Cllr Heather Goddard, executive member for communities, said: “The council spends approximately £1.6 million a year clearing rubbish from the district’s streets and we would much rather not have to spend council taxpayer’s money in this way. That’s why we are taking enforcement action to target those responsible for littering.
“The message is simple. Be responsible: Keep your litter with you and dispose of it at home or at your workplace and help keep South Gloucestershire beautiful and litter-free.”
Source: South Gloucestershire Council
The following response has been received from the South Gloucestershire Liberal Democrat Group:
Ring Road gets Spring Clean – but what about the A38?
Following the Council’s announcement (above), Lib Dem councillors are demanding a fair deal for Patchway and the A38. Councillor Peter Tyzack agrees that of course the ring road needs to be done but the Council is failing to spread the work evenly around South Gloucestershire.
Cllr Tyzack said, ‘It’s all very well the Council making a show of tidying up the Ring Road yet again. But when oh when will they get round to doing the same on the A38? It hasn’t been done since the Tories took control of SG, and there are places on A38 in Patchway where there is so much muck in the gutters that you can hardly see the difference between the kerb and the road. There’s just a blur where the weeds are growing. Is it any wonder that the residents of Patchway feel that South Glos is neglecting them!?