The din is unbearable, smells, dust and garbage, even more. Sex toys, vaping, plastic bottles filled with urine and burgering packaging launched on the fly. The filths thrown by drivers along the provinces of the province leave speechless even the least disdainful of us.
Posted at 7:00 a.m.
In the aftermath of Easter leave, the day of the earth, the cleaning operations on the edge of the motorways began in Quebec. Under article 498 of Road Safety Codeit is forbidden “to throw, drop or abandon any materials on a public path” under penalty of fine varying from $ 60 to $ 100. Despite this ban, the borders of the network are filthy dumps, noted The Presse.
Photo Martin Chamberland, La Presse
On the side of the road, Alexandre Belleau and his colleague found many waste such as glasses in shootercans or ventilation pipes.
It floats a smell of pizza north of the highway junction 40 and 15, in the heart of the metropolitan circuit. The smell does not come from a pizzeria, but from a box probably launched down down. Right next to it, there are glasses to shooter plastic. A dead bird lies next to an energizing cans with taurine. A little further, other chocolate packaging, pisses, cookies, coffee cups and other stinking residues, including handkerchiefs, small pants, bras and surgical masks.
Photo Martin Chamberland, La Presse
Employees can find all kinds of unusual objects on the side of the road.
“We pick up everything, but what is the most striking is the large number of sex toys is quite weird. We also collect a lot of alcohol remains. It goes from the beer cans to the bottles of wine and fort. In my opinion, it is completely false to believe that the phenomenon of alcohol driving no longer exists, “says Alexandre Belleau, native of Lac-Saint-Jean, who has become a specialist on the roadside for the company Multi-trac services, a subcontractor from the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility (MTMD).
He explains that there is a difference between waste in the regions and those of Montreal. The latter are the worst, both by the quantity and by their content, he says. In less than 12 hours along a border on the south side of Highway 40, its team fills around 250 large industrial bags for garbage to the brown. The trailer of his truck is full. He expects to recover 3 or 4 tonnes of waste in a few days.
Photo Martin Chamberland, La Presse
Alexandre Belleau, team leader at Multi-Trac Services
Sometimes there is money. One day, I found $ 900 rolled up tight. Sometimes there are identity cards, we will drop them off in the Canada Post Offices.
Alexandre Belleau, team leader, multi-trac services
The waste collector comes out of his trailer with a toaster, planks, planks, ventilation pipes. The whole will be sent to burial-everything is contaminated, nothing is good to recycle, he launches. Tons of waste that has nothing to do with the government’s reduction targets of 525 kilograms or less subjects eliminated per capita, enacted in 2019 by Quebec.
Photo Martin Chamberland, La Presse
In less than 12 hours, Alexandre Belleau and his teammate filled around 250 large industrial bags of garbage cans.
No official statistics
The subcontractors hired by the ministry do not have the obligation to count the tons of wild waste recovered each year along the highways. There are therefore no official statistics, but the collectors to whom The press Declared herself agree on about a ton per kilometer. Crown corporation Recyc-Québec explains that it will soon publish a study of characterization of this type of waste. It will be a first step.
Louis-André Bertrand is a spokesperson for the Directorate General for Communications from the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility. By looking at waste load, he reminds drivers the importance of “securing” their loading.
We see each year that there are losses of several large objects, probably poorly attached.
Louis-André Bertrand, spokesperson for the Directorate General of Communications of the MTMD
Photo Martin Chamberland, La Presse
The collection of waste on the road is not without risk, especially due to vehicles that drive at full speed right next door.
In order to accomplish the dirty work, subcontractors must take security measures. First, have eyes all around the head because of vehicles that split the air by rolling on the fast tracks. The pickers wear bibs to be clearly visible. The colleague of Mr. Belleau, a man named Yves, explains that he has already led machinery in the forest. He is used to hostile territories. During the collection operation to which The press Attended, he did not hesitate to climb on the edge with his waste clip, at the edge of a staging bridge, with the planes whistling above his head.
As soon as possible, road sweeping trucks will start to circulate along the province’s highways. The scraping and mowing operations will be linked. There are also the maintenance programs of the ditches to prevent the proliferation of invasive plants, including the common reed. In total, the MTMD manages the maintenance of some 31,000 km of highways, national roads and regional roads.Consult the maintenance activities of the network by the Quebec government
