October 26, 2018 | From City of New Orleans
Update on CleanUpNOLA Includes One Month of Significant Coordinated Progress Among Several Departments
CleanUpNOLA began its work in September by targeting 12 major corridors across the city. The first three corridors featured efforts along South Claiborne Avenue (Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to Napoleon Avenue), Broad Street (Poydras Street to Gentilly Boulevard) and Crowder Boulevard (Hayne Boulevard to Chef Menteur Highway). Part of the work has concentrated on the enhancement of current daily operations.
Key leaders within CleanUpNOLA, also known as the Tiger Team, have coordinated their work to increase the efficiency of City services. The Tiger Team continues to walk corridors to identify violations and to educate residents and businesses in regard to how to respond to violations, repair or replace street signs, address graffiti in public spaces, clean up catch basins, and more.
Several City departments have partnered on this effort: Sanitation, Public Works, Health, Safety & Permits, Code Enforcement, Neighborhood Engagement, Park & Parkways, and the Mosquito, Termite & Rodent Control Board. These City departments work together to reduce and deter litter and blight, promote a healthier environment, improve access to City services and expand community education and engagement.
The Department of Sanitation reported major efforts along the South Claiborne Avenue Corridor, which included:
- Street miles mechanically swept: 13
- Street miles of litter removed: 65
- Litter cans pressure washed, had graffiti removed or were repainted: 41
Sanitation also reported major improvement on the Broad Street Corridor:
- Street miles mechanically swept: 63
- Street miles of litter removed: 28
- Litter cans pressure washed, had graffiti removed or were repainted: 43
Another major highlight includes collaboration with the New Orleans Department of Health to perform clean-ups of homeless encampments along South Claiborne Avenue underneath the I-10 overpass, which includes advance notice to those encamped in the area to prepare for a clean-up.
The Department of Public Works is working in tandem with several other City departments to compound the benefits of the CleanUpNOLA initiative. In just the first three corridors, DPW has inspected and cleaned 231 catch basins, replaced dozens of damaged or graffitied street signs, removed bandit signs, tagged and removed a handful of abandoned vehicles, cited illegally parked vehicles and repaired nine streetlight outages.
The Neighborhood Engagement Office also partnered with DPW to launch the Adopt-a-Catch-Basin initiative, sponsored by Cities of Service. Every Saturday from Oct. 6 to Nov. 3, 2018, City staff are teaming up with neighborhood volunteers to clean out several of the City’s 68,092 catch basins in each council district.
The Department of Parks and Parkways has been working on multiple corridors throughout the process, and to date mowed 395 acres of grass, performed work on 258 trees and removed 385 illegal signs.
The Department of Safety and Permits has inspected hundreds of commercial properties in high-traffic areas to educate the public and to enforce requirements related to the cleanliness and appearance of sites. The Department already has been successful in the adjudication process by successfully fining non-compliant properties and by working with the public to voluntarily achieve compliance.
Enforcement also has been a key part of the CleanUpNOLA strategy. Over a three-week span, Code Enforcement has cut and cleaned roughly 70,000 square feet along Crowder Boulevard, St. Claude Avenue and Wall Boulevard. These are privately held lots where the owners have neglected to take care of their own property, thus creating a safety hazards for their neighbors.
“To address this problem, on these three corridors alone, we are actively pursuing cases against 15 negligent owners to encourage them to comply with the law or face liens and possible foreclosure. This grueling work was accomplished by a team of 22 young people in partnership with the White Dove program, a job readiness and life skills program offered by Covenant House New Orleans,” said Code Enforcement Director Albert Poche.