Why so trashy, Kansas City? Litter in our streets is no way to welcome new visitors

Let’s talk trash. No, not the ribbing we give our rival sports teams. That’s fun. We’re talking about the trash we see littering our streets and highways. That’s not fun.

In case you didn’t know, tossing your trash on a Missouri highway could land you in jail for up to six months or cost you as much as $1,000 in fines. Those are pretty stiff penalties for something so easily avoided. Just don’t litter. Are people really too lazy to put trash where it belongs — in garbage bins?

Littering is getting worse on highways going through Kansas City. And the Missouri Department of Transportation, which is responsible for maintaining those roads, has been so hard pressed to get the job done, it’s had to contract with an outside company to pick up the “abundance of trash,” on the roads, said Melissa Black, a MoDOT spokeswoman.

Part of the problem is a severe staffing shortage that MoDOT has experienced in recent years, Black said. Road repairs that impact safety take precedence.

The trash problem is more severe in urban areas, and MoDOT needs help particularly in Kansas City. Homeless people who leave belongings and trash behind contribute to the challenge, Black said. Drivers of dump trucks and pickups who fail to properly cover their loads, allowing trash to blow out onto the road are also part of the problem.

In March, the highway department put out a request for volunteers to help clean roadsides during what it called “Trash Bash month of April.” And while Kansas Citians did step up to help, a one-time effort does little to control an ongoing and obnoxious situation.

That plastic cup or fast food wrapper tossed on the ground might seem like a small item. But it all adds up to a mountain of costs. The state has spent millions of dollars on trash cleanup, and road maintenance crews have collected thousands of bags of trash.

“It is a never-ending cycle,” Black said.

The outside company hired by the state uses trash collectors to do pickups twice a month on several miles of highway around the city. On Tuesday, they were working in bright yellow and orange vests along Interstate 70 just east of U.S. Highway 71.

Meanwhile, about a half mile west of where that crew worked, you could see loads of trash scattered along the shoulder of Interstate 635 running beneath the Kansas City Convention Center. And trashy roads are no way to welcome visitors, especially as Kansas City makes an effort to attract major world events — like the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

We commend city officials for having stepped up efforts to help clean up the streets they are responsible for. That includes allocating $600,000 in the 2023 budget for additional trash and litter cleanups as part of a jobs program for the formerly incarcerated and homeless people staying in shelters.

But motorists and residents in general need to do their part to keep our streets and highways clean. Don’t litter, and report violators. Police and code enforcement officers should slap a substantial fine on anyone trashing Kansas City.

We don’t want people to talk trash about our city. Let’s each of us pitch in.

This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 5:00 AM.