No More Dirty Driving on Area Interstates?
But, you may have noticed a big difference on our roads recently. All the trash is gone!
One year ago our major interstates were a mess.
Trash piled up along guard rails causing a real hazard to drivers.
In June, the state decided to spend $28 million to put that job in private hands.
WBTV's David Whisenant reports from I85 with their report card.
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I would have to give them an "A" based on what I saw today, the drivers I spoke with give them an "A."
My grade, the "A" was based on what I saw driving 20 plus miles on two interstates they are charged with maintaining.
You can't really expect an immaculate interstatepick up, but overall, drivers we found say I-85 looks pretty good.
"I thought it was very clean," said one driver.
Another driver said, "So far it looks pretty good right now, not too dirty, but it looks good."
The company behind the clean up is Infrastructure Corporation of America. They work in Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Gaston, and Cleveland counties on 85, 77, I-485, and I-277.
It amounts to a total of 786 miles of interstate. They clean the trash, cut the grass, fix the signs. The company signed a $28 million contract with Mecklenburg County last year.
That came after drivers as well as city and county leaders complained to the state about the nasty highways.
The company says it does the job cheaper and faster, labor costs are lower and the bid process for individual jobs is eliminated.
The real test comes where the rubber meets the road. Today we found a New Jersey couple who actually had made the point while driving that the roads here looked really good.
"On the way down I said, 'boy the roads here are so clean and neat and everything,'" one of the dirvers said.
"I think the roads are very clean, I was very impressed with the whole area coming down," said the other.
So most would agree, a pretty good job, but you have to remember, a lot of that responsibility still falls on me and you to not throw stuff out. Not only is it a mess and a $250 fine, but the trash can be a dangerous road hazard.
ICA is in its 10th year. It started in Tennessee with two businessmen sketching out ideas on a napkin about privatizing road maintenance.
Now it has become the leading company in the industry.
Story Created: Apr 17, 2008 at 5:22 PM EDT
Story Updated: Apr 17, 2008 at 6:11 PM EDT