The trash along Pecos Road may not be very noticeable driving in a car at 50 mph, but once you take a walk in the area, it’s something that’s hard to ignore.
“It’s an eye sore,” said Ahwatukee Foothills resident Joseph Marquez.
Marquez has been running on a path that takes him down Pecos Road from Desert Foothills Parkway to 17th Avenue for the past six months. He says in that time he’s seen an unbelievable amount of trash from bottles and old campaign signs to even large pieces of wood and old tires. Whether it’s coming from bikers and runners using the area or from people driving on the road, Marquez said it’s time it got some attention.
“It’s not good for people to throw stuff out of their car and just mess up a landscape that’s so nice,” Marquez said. “It’s not manicured and maintained by anybody other than nature itself so we just need to keep it clean.”
Marquez has tried to contact the city to facilitate a clean up day and possibly provide some dumpsters but hasn’t gotten a response. The problem may just be about awareness.
“I want to make people aware of the problem and ask them to do their small part to do something about it,” he said. “I notice new stuff every day but there’s a lot that you can tell has been there for a while. Cleaning up is one thing but part of it is just awareness so people will stop doing it. I want to clean it up but we need to maintain it too.”
On his own Marquez has picked up trash a few times. He says within 50 yards he usually fills a trash bag, but if more people did the same the area could be cleaned up in two to three weeks. The challenge to be a little more clean and a little more aware has been issued to all the walkers, runners, bikers and drivers who use Pecos Road.
“We like it out here,” Marquez said. “It’s beautiful and quiet but all that trash is just terrible for the landscape. We need to do something about it.”
• Contact writer: (480) 898-7914 or ahurtado@ahwatukee.com
