'I Just Want To Get It Resolved': Wicker Park Residents Want Waste Management To Pick Up Piled Up Garbage
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Almost two weeks after the area's big snowstorm, and some Chicagoans are still dealing with dumpsters packed with so much trash, the lids won't close.
CBS 2's Marissa Parra reports from Wicker Park where one mom is running out of patience.
CBS 2 spoke with people in Wicker Park who said overflowing trash bins made sense last week, but if the snow is melted from alleys, why can't garbage trucks come through?
As Chicago warms up, Chicagoan patience is running out.
"This is like our two bins of three to four weeks of trash," said Wicker Park resident Christina Cedeno.
Gone is the thick blanket of snow that once coated streets and alleyways. Wicker Park residents hoped that would mean the trash would be gone too.
She has her hands full with a toddler and every parent knows how fast a toddler can fill the trash up. Now, it's filling up her hallway.
"We have some disposable diapers that we haven't been able to take out," Cedeno said, adding she knows access was an issue last week.
A viewer video showed one unlucky Waste Management truck stuck in the snow, requiring a little extra help getting out of a Logan Square alley Tuesday morning.
But it was when trash and other bins in the same alley, she started having questions.
"All these other trash bins are empty and ours are not," Cedeno said.
A neighbor called Waste Management asking for a courtesy pickup. It said it would come Thursday. But they didn't.
"It's been a bit frustrating. I just want to get this resolved."
Waste Management sent CBS 2 a statement saying it tried to get into that particular alleyway twice this week, but cited ice and snow as making it difficult.
The company added that the alleyway in question may be difficult to driver through, it is making adjustments to its vehicle in order to get through.
This particular alley requires our vehicle to back-into into the alley to service this container. The driver has to make several adjustments to the vehicle to perform this tight backing maneuver to pick-up the trash. We made two attempts this week - on Tuesday and yesterday morning to service this customer. Both times the alley was very icy with snow. Rather than risk the safety of our employee or the vehicle sliding on the ice into a structure or utility pole, we made the difficult decision to not service this container yesterday morning.
As all Chicagoans know, the past two weeks has been challenging with snow and bitter temperatures. In the last two and half weeks, our team has repeatedly had to dig out our vehicles stuck in the city's alleys similar to other vehicles. We continued to have extra crews working to return to normal service schedule and appreciate our customers patience. The safety of our employees and the public is always our first priority.
