LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- From cutting back trees, bushes and weeds to removing litter and debris, Louisville's Alley Action Crew is tasked with clearing more than 100 miles around the city.

"It's a very labor intensive job," assistant director of the city's Department of Public Works Solid Waste Management Services Unit. " ... It takes a while to get through an alley."

The program is funded for a staff of seven but is currently working with a crew of five people clearing 173 miles of alley right of ways within Louisville's Urban Services District. The crew is now in the process of cycling through different parts of the city a second time.

Alley Action Crew works to clean alleyways across Louisville

Louisville's Alley Action Crew is tasked with clearing more than 100 miles around the city. July 20, 2023. (WDRB Photo)

"It takes us quite a while," Flood said. "We've only been through one and a half times, which is obviously not fast enough."

He said the program existed several years ago in the city and was brought back in October 2020. 

"Obviously, the condition of some of the alleys has been on people's minds for a lot longer than since 2020," Flood said. "So this was in response to in concerns about the alleys and trying to get something to come back to address that."

He said Public Works is currently evaluating the program, working to find ways to move faster. As is stands now, the program follows scheduled routes throughout the city. But, in the future, Flood said it could possibly focus first on areas with complaints. He said a separate crew typically focuses on complaints such as illegal dumping, which has been the subject of several complaints around the city this summer.

However, that issue slows down their progress. 

"Illegal dumping impacts this program in the fact that we have to have somebody clean it," Flood said. "If people didn't do that, that would cut down one leg of this program and what it has to do. So we would be able to move faster."

Just last week, a man in the Portland neighborhood said a pile of construction material was illegally dumped and blocked an alley behind his home for days. On Thursday, as the crew cleaned up an alley in south Louisville, a local business owner said illegal dumping has been an issue there, too. 

"A lot of people come into here and throw out their garbage at the dumpers and everything," said Billy Jones, who owns Billy Jones Barber Shop of New Cut Road. "We're constantly moving mattresses and furniture."

Jones walked through the alley soon after Public Works cut down overgrown tree limbs and cleaned up, saying he was thankful for that kind of work to be done. 

"It makes our neighborhood here in the south end much nicer," he said. 

Flood said Alley Action has removed more than 2,300 tons of materials since it began in 2020. The route is divided into 12 sections. According to Flood, here is the amount of junk/litter/tree debris removed in each route so far:

  • Route A: 61
  • Route B: 174
  • Route C: 119
  • Route D: 75
  • Route E: 108
  • Route F: 42
  • Route G: 260
  • Route H: 355
  • Route I: 93
  • Route J: 51
  • Route K: 266
  • Route L: 41

Routes A, B, and C have been cleaned twice. Currently, the crew is working through Route D as it makes its second trip around the city. For a map to see where each route is located in the city, click here.

In an effort to limit illegal dumping, the city has changed the way it picks up large trash items.

"It's a brand new program," Flood said. "We're changing 30 years — 30-plus years — of an old system where you just put your stuff out everywhere. And there was always piles of junk sitting three to four weeks out before the junk pick-up."

Now, he said large item pickup can be done on a weekly basis by appointment. 

"We've already had over 10,000 appointments that we've done in a very short amount of time," Flood said. "We're not behind on those. We're generally getting those within the week."

For detailed information on large item pickup, click here. For information on illegal dumping and how to help stop it from happening, click here. And for services through Solid Waste Management, click here.

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