Letter - Cleaning the Streets

MDR

Please find below a letter I recentily sent to Dublin Corp.

*please redirect to the Street Cleaning Department*

Dear Sir/Madam

I am taking the liberty of writing to you in relation to the cleaning of the centre of the city.
I firmly believe that its better to engage with local authorities rather than complain through
the media or any other outlet, and in the spirit of mutual respect in which I correspond,
I hope you will consider seriously my proposal.

The centre of city (I am thinking specifically of O'Connell street but my argument can apply everywhere)
is cleaned primarily by 'Green Machine's. These are more or less, I am sure you would agree, giant vacuum
cleaners. They can be quite effective at cleaning up litter etc, and are much faster than the 'street sweepers' they
replaced, however because of their size they are difficult to maneuver and don't clean up grime.

I will explain what I mean by grime, although I am sure it is already obvious.
Over the years, dirt has built up on the street, ingrained dirt, something the
green machines can't pick up. Chewing gum, urine etc all contribute to this
grime which has given our fair city the colloquial name 'dirty Dublin' .

When I lived in Paris, I would work late nights at a computer lab. Coming home at six in the morning,
I saw how the French local authorities keep Paris spotlessly clean. (Please bear in mind Paris,
is an huge, overpopulated, cramped city, with as many social problems as we must contend with.)
The French local authorities used power hoses similar to those used at car washes, except much more
powerful to clean down the pavements _every_ morning. These power hoses would draw their water
from the nearest fire hydrant and rolled up pieces of carpet where used to ensure the water flow would
always go into the storm drain.

I would propose that the workers who are responsible for cleaning the streets during the days,
(using the 'Green Machines') take a hour and a half at the start of each shift, to clean the pavements
down with power hoses, I am sure that people (yourselves included ) , would very quickily begin
to notice the level of cleaniness in the city improve.

Best Regards

Ray Kinsella

Kevok

I was on henry street before the 'unveiling' of the granite paving, and there were teams of people cleaning the street with powerful steam cleaners to take off the chewing gum.

I always wondered why it was never done again.

MDR

got a reply ....

Mr Kinsella,
Thank you for your e-mail and your observations.
At present we use three street washing vehicles- the city centre shift starts
at 2am, many of the streets washed down on a daily basis.
We have recently restarted a programme of high pressure pavement washing using
an outside contractor. The specific purpose of this is to combat what you have
highlighted - build-up of chewing gum and general grime on the city centre
pavements.
I welcome any observations/comments you have on our services.

Kevin Lynch,
Dublin City Council, Waste Management Services