New Garbage Days For Many Northwest Side Residents
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Thousands of Chicago residents now have new garbage days, with the grid collection system expanding.
As CBS 2's Kris Habermehl reports, about 72,000 residents of the Northwest Side now have new garbage days following the transition to the grid-based system from the Ward-based system.
The affected wards include the 38th (parts of Portage Park, Jefferson Park, Old Irving Park and Dunning); the 39th (North Park, Hollywood Park, parts of Albany Pak and Mayfair); the 41st (Edgebrook, Wildwood, Edison Park, Norwood Park, O'Hare International Airport); and 45th (parts of Edgebrook, Forest Glen, Mayfair, Jefferson Park and Portage Park), as well as most of the 33rd (parts of Albany Park. Irving Park and Avondale.)
Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Thomas Byrne says residents may have their garbage picked up on a different day but service will still be weekly. Last week crews posted "Change in Garbage Service Day" notifications in affected areas.
The city says the grid system is widely used both by other municipal governments and private waste haulers. Under the new system for Chicago, garbage pickup will be based on routes bordered by main streets and natural boundaries, rather than the non-linear boundaries of aldermanic wards.
In announcing his budget last fall, Emanuel said the ward-based system was woefully outdated.
"No person designing a garbage collection system from scratch would base it on a political map. We've always done it that way because we could afford to. Fed Ex and UPS don't do it that way," he said. "But we can no longer afford to."
The city estimates up to 20 percent fewer crews will be used in the first phase, while providing the same services. By working in a grid, the city expects to reduce fuel and vehicle maintenance expenses.
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