Mike Eyerman doesn’t get a paycheck for what he does on Broad Street, but there’s little question that what he does is valuable to the people who live there and those passing through.

Two or three times a week, Eyerman wields a trash grabber, a bucket, a broom and a dustpan and heads across the Broad Street bridge near his home.

A painter by trade, Eyerman has lived at the foot of the bridge for 20 years. He originally started picking up recyclable materials when it was still just a wooden bridge, and a lot narrower than it is now. During the construction of the new bridge, he cleaned up the construction site where workers left their trash.

Now he picks up all forms of debris and detritus on the bridge, which connects West Washington Street and West Constance Road and spans Prentis Street as well as a railroad.

“Most of the trash is cigarette butts,” Eyerman said. Broken bottles come in a close second. That’s what the broom and dustpan are for.

“I don’t know how many brooms I’ve used,” he added.

Originally from Newport News, Eyerman landed in Suffolk by way of Guam and Norfolk. He said he likes the area near his house.

“I just want to keep this nice,” he said, acknowledging much of the trash would probably wind up in or near his yard if he didn’t pick it up. He usually finds a few pieces of it there, anyway. He also pulls the weeds that invade the sidewalk.

He doesn’t work the northbound side of the bridge because there’s no sidewalk there, and traffic moves too quickly for it to be safe, he said.

The trash he picks up goes in his own trashcan, with the recycling in his recycling bin. Before the city started curbside recycling, he used to take the recyclables to the recycling convenience center on Market Street.

And even though there’s no paycheck associated with his efforts, Eyerman said he still enjoys the appreciation from the many passersby who thank him for picking up the trash.