Piles of roadside litter another symptom of pandemic in New Mexico

May 11—SANTA FE — From discarded face masks to tossed-out hand wipes, the COVID-19 pandemic has left a visible mark on New Mexico's roads.

State transportation officials said Monday they have struggled over the past year with an abundance of litter, even offering to pay overtime to Department of Transportation employees who agree to clean up roadway trash on their weekends.

"It has been really hard to keep up," state Transportation Secretary Michael Sandoval said at a news conference. "We can clean up an area and, a day or two later, it looks like no one has even touched it."

In an attempt to combat the problem, state transportation officials announced Monday they are bringing back a public awareness campaign — dubbed "Toss No Más" — first launched in the 1990s that, in its new iteration, will feature radio and billboard ads.

But a catchy slogan might go only so far in addressing the deluge of roadside debris.

One of the factors contributing to New Mexico's struggle with highway and interstate litter has been the state Corrections Department's halting of the practice of having inmates clean up roadside trash, Sandoval said.

A Corrections spokesman said Monday the department suspended all outside inmate work crews last year as a preventive measure in an attempt to halt the spread of COVID-19.

"We do plan on resuming the cleanup crews in the near future and we are working with our health experts to determine when it is safest to do so," agency spokesman Eric Harrison told the Journal.

Another likely culprit in the litter problem is New Mexico's spring winds, which can blow trash out of pickup truck beds and open car windows without notice.

To prevent that from happening, state officials urge residents to secure their garbage loads with a tarp or another method on their way to the dump.

"Once the wind picks it up and carries it, we're lost," said DOT spokeswoman Marisa Maez.

The swirling roadside litter is not only an eyesore, but also can pose risks to motorists, transportation officials said. Monday.

While littering is a petty misdemeanor punishable by a $50 fine under New Mexico law, enforcing the statute is difficult and it's unclear how many citations were issued in 2020.

Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation spent about $3.5 million in the 2020 budget year on litter removal efforts, Sandoval said, and has more than 880 workers assigned to road maintenance issues, which includes picking up litter.

He said it's unclear what the price tag might hit this year as the agency is able to decide how to spend some discretionary funds within its budget.

While state officials grapple with litter woes, they're moving ahead with highway projects.

Overall, roughly $600 million was appropriated by lawmakers for road repairs and construction during this year's 60-day legislative session, Sandoval said.

While New Mexico still has a roughly $3 billion backlog of roads projects, he said the funding infusion would help pay for projects in all regions of the state.

Among the projects slated to begin once the funding is available in July is construction of a new Interstate 25 interchange in Los Lunas and a reconstructed I-25 interchange at Montgomery Boulevard in Albuquerque.

In addition, construction crews will begin the process of expanding the highly traveled stretch of Interstate 40 between Gallup and Albuquerque this summer.

Eventually, the entire 138-mile stretch will be a six-lane roadway, with three lanes of traffic in each direction, Sandoval said.