[02/21/03]The state needs to pick up litter along Interstate 20 and other highway corridors through Vicksburg and Warren County more often, a request being sent to Gov. Ronnie Musgrove says.

Mayor Laurence Leyens said the corridors are maintained by the Mississippi Department of Transportation, including grass cutting and litter patrol, but city officials say it has been months since anyone picked up the trash.

“One of our biggest eyesores is along the interstate and the highways because apparently MDOT doesn’t have the money for cleanup during the winter months,” said South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman. “And we’re sitting here as the front door to the state.”

John Sewell, a spokesman for Musgrove, said this morning that they have not received the request from Vicksburg, but will look at the information as soon as they get it.

“Obviously we want to keep our interstate as clean as possible for both our residents and out-of-state visitors coming through the state,” Sewell said.

Leyens said the city does not have the funding or the manpower to clean up along the highways on a regular basis. The city is seeking legislation this year that could allow prisoners from Issaquena County to pick up litter.

City officials said the worst areas are around the I-20 interchanges through Vicksburg and along U.S. 61 South.

The Warren County Sheriff’s Department had a litter patrol using county and state inmates up until a few months ago when many of the state inmates were taken to private prisons, said Sheriff Martin Pace. Inmates convicted of violent crimes or sex offenses cannot be used in the program, and pretrial detainees are also excluded.

He said the department recently acquired a new van through MDOT for the liter patrol.

“We are going to re-start that program soon,” Pace said.

Central District Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall said MDOT will pay the salary of a supervisor for the inmates to pick up litter. Hall said that including regular litter crews, MDOT is spending about $2 million annually picking up trash from along Mississippi’s highways.

“It’s a very expensive, nasty habit people have,” Hall said. “If people would just quit throwing trash out the window, we wouldn’t have to spend the people’s tax dollars on litter.”

Beauman said that litter along the interstate and highways in Vicksburg is picked up six times a year when the highway department cuts grass. During the winter months, there are no scheduled trash pickups.