Hudson Valley Excels In Statewide Highway Trash Pickup

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — New York Transportation Department employees participating in the annual statewide "Trash Blitz" for Earth Day 2022 collected more bags in the Hudson Valley than any other region.

They collected 4,128 bags in the region, down from 5,340 in Ulster, Orange, Rockland, Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess and Columbia counties last year.

The purpose of the annual Trash Blitz is to remove litter from numerous State-owned highways and bring awareness to motorists that littering tarnishes the beautiful landscape of the region and threatens both the safety of the roadway and the natural habitat surrounding it.

"Motorists also have a responsibility to keep our highways free of trash and debris," DOT spokeswoman Heather Pillsworth told Patch. "We encourage motorists to properly dispose of their trash and do their part in keeping litter off our roads and highways. We are not only members of DOT, but members of the community and are committed to making the places we live and work better."

In all, 1,650 Department maintenance employees and office staff participated in the two-day effort. The teams collected a total of 11,146 bags of litter along State highways:

• Capital Region (NYSDOT Region 1) – 550 bags
• Mohawk Valley (Region 2) – 311 bags
• Central NY (Region 3) – 879 bags
• Finger Lakes (Region 4) – 500 bags
• Western NY (Region 5) – 682 bags
• Western Southern Tier (Region 6) – 120 bags
• North Country (Region 7) – 40 bags
• Hudson Valley (Region 8) – 4,128 bags
• Long Island (Region 10) – 3,856 bags
• New York City (Region 11) – 80 bags