Garbage pickup changes lack common sense

By Letter to the Editor on July 4, 2020.

So, now yet again another decision by mayor and council that lacks common sense and proper judgment. I am referring to the new changes where all garbage pickup will now be done on the front roadways and not in the back alleys.

Supposedly the decision is based on an analysis that alley ways are “softer” and that sometimes there are obstacles. Yet to me that defies logic as we have had the “Tarleck tubs” and bigger trucks for many years. The analysis obviously did not include the design and layout of older neighbourhoods nor any input from the residents. It may be something that works in the newer neighbourhoods, but it is not practical for us that live in the older neighbourhoods.

Houses that have alleyways were built and designed with that in mind. Ninety per cent of those houses have driveways and garages in the back. For that reason, we also have a lot more on-street parking. I myself seriously have no place to store my bins close to the front. I have no front driveway and the passageway down the side of my house is too narrow. If I continue to store my bins out back then it means hauling them full and through the snow, which is not a feasible option. So, my only alternative is to keep them in the middle of my front yard. It means most bins will be out front and visible. Considering that garbage pickup is every other week, what an eyesore that is going to be. A bunch of full, overflowing garbage bins.

Next is the issue of on-street parking. That is going to dramatically affect where we can put the bins in the morning before people leave for work. And then considering that the bins will be out there for most of the day until people get home, it will then limit our amount of parking. So, probably what will happen then is that people will move the bins up and onto the sidewalk so they have space to park. This in turn will then block the route for pedestrians. And speaking of “obstacles,” how is a bunch of parked cars not obstacles for the garbage trucks?

So, I would like to know how and even why the “analysis” was done. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. Council needs to stop being so authoritarian and making decisions based on a few and not the whole.

Lori Bauman

Lethbridge