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Read the press release here.

West Town Garbage Has Been Overflowing in Alleys For Weeks, Residents Say

By Alisa Hauser | January 7, 2016 9:59am
 Garbage is overflowing in West Town.  Here are a few photos.
Trash in West Town
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WEST TOWN — When major holidays fall on Friday, that's usually a good thing (woo long weekend!) — unless your designated trash pickup day is Friday. 

That's the case in West Town, where some residents say the holiday garbage collection schedule has left them swimming in trash. 

Around 7:30 a.m. Thursday, as DNAinfo chatted with a resident about the overflowing dumpster in her alley in the 1800 block of West Superior Street, a large rat crawled out of a bin. 

"The rats are everywhere," said the woman, who declined to be named. She said the city should have anticipated the backup and picked up the trash another day.

Another resident complained that the trash hadn't been picked up since Dec. 18. 

Mike Lansu

Jennifer Martinez, a spokeswoman for the city's Department of Streets and Sanitation, said the city actually did come pick up trash another day. 

"Earlier in December, we reached out to all the alderman's offices to let them know we were doing a modified trash collection schedule.  We asked them to encourage residents to have black carts accessible throughout week and not just on their pickup day if the day is on a holiday," Martinez said.

Ald. Joe Moreno (1st) announced the schedule change in his newsletter and on social media in December. 

"During the holiday season, the Department of Streets & Sanitation will not be collecting refuse on Christmas Day, Friday, December 25th and on New Year's Day, Friday, January 1st," Moreno said in the newsletter. "Streets & Sans is working diligently to collect refuse and recycling before Christmas Eve, so please ensure that your carts are accessible so that your trash can be collected." 

Martinez said the West Town area, like all of the city, has a grid system for garbage pickup. The days of service for different blocks are broken down from Monday through Friday. She added that for those who have a Friday pickup, all of the the black carts that were left out on Dec. 24 or Dec. 31 were picked up then. 

"If anyone feels that they missed the garbage pickup, please call 311.  We try to work in advance to provide the information on any holiday week.  We are very diligent about picking up garbage and want to service everyone," Martinez said.

In addition to several West Town residential blocks, other Friday pickup neighborhoods include parts of the Loop and Lincoln Park, according to a map.

Martinez said the next holiday would be Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 18, so trash collectors will be again be working 10-hour shifts over four days instead of eight-hour shifts over five days.

Streets and San has received no formal complaints about lack of pick up over the holidays, Martinez said. 

While walking her dog down an alley in the 1700 block of West Superior, Ellen Byrnes said she had definitely noticed that the alley had "kind of full" bins.

"I thought if it was a holiday they would do it on another day," Byrnes said.

Garbage Pick Up Map, Monday through Friday by City of Chicago