The Oregon Department of Transportation on Tuesday said it’s hired an outside contractor to help remove graffiti that’s marred miles of freeway across the Portland area but conceded the added cleanup crews may barely make a dent.
“We’re really struggling with this effort,” Don Hamilton, an agency spokesman, told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “It’s gotten significantly worse.”
Spray-painted messages and symbols have long covered stretches of Interstates 5, 205 and 405. But the volume of such vandalism surged during pandemic and continues to overwhelm the state maintenance workers normally tasked with tackling the graffiti, Hamilton said.
The contractor, River City Environmental, began dispatching work crews to clean sound walls, bridge pillars and other property along the three freeways on May 25, according to the state transportation agency. The company’s $300,000 contract lasts through June 30.
Even with additional crews working 12 hours a day, seven days a week, the enhanced cleanup effort will not eradicate the ubiquitous eyesores.
“This is an ongoing problem, it’s an increasing problem and it’s one we’ll have to continue to work on,” Hamilton said. “It’s not going to be solved in the immediate future.”
Neither will the proliferation of garbage and debris that remains scattered across state rights of way and piled up along freeway onramps and offramps.
The Oregon Department of Transportation said it stopped picking up litter along the more than 650 miles of roads and freeways it oversees across Portland at the beginning of the pandemic, save for massive trash piles or bulky items such as shopping carts and furniture.
That’s largely because it drew most of its trash collectors from jails or prisons, which kept inmates behind bars as the virus raged for more than a year. Seasonal youth workers and volunteers comprised the rest.
All three groups continue to be sidelined, Hamilton said. Maintenance crews are now beginning to make modest improvements but a substantial backlog remains.
“We’re trying to find the resources now to develop a stronger response,” Hamilton said.
Portland is also attempting to get its growing garbage and graffiti problems under control. The city says it plans to spend an additional $5.7 million next year on cleanup efforts, including $3.4 million for graffiti removal.
-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632
Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com
Follow on Twitter @shanedkavanaugh
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