To the editor:

I don’t know if anyone has noticed the amount of trash that is accumulating on our major highways — like Route 10 and U.S. Route 58 East and West, both on the business section and the bypass — but I have.

It’s disgusting and doesn’t paint a good picture of who we are as a city.

I have called Public Works and have been told that this work is subcontracted to the company that does the grass cutting.

They do a great job of litter removal during growing season, because they have to pick it up before they cut. The problem is that in the fall, when the grass goes dormant, they no longer provide for litter removal, so it piles up for five months until late spring.

Ninety percent of what accumulates is plastic, which is not biodegradable and chokes our waterways and is deadly to wildlife.

In addition to people throwing trash from their cars, our own city trash trucks add to the problem by not securing the tops of the trucks, allowing trash to blow onto the roads.

I had an opportunity to drive a friend of mine around who is in the car business and was looking at several sites in Suffolk for future locations. After driving down 58 Bypass going east, he looked at the area right before we crossed the Nansemond River that was strewn with trash that included a discarded mattress and a commode and asked, “Doesn’t anyone care about the appearance of their city?”

We are better than that. If we can build a multimillion-dollar City Hall, don’t you think we can find the funds to provide this service?

And one other thing. To all those people who can’t wait to get home to dispose of their trash and instead throw it out of their cars, shame on you. That’s why they make trash cans.

Carl Farris

Suffolk