Cops try to unjam thousands of cars drawn by free recycling event At least 15 police officers from four agencies were needed to untangle a traffic jam created as thousands of cars converged on the Alliant Energy Center in Madison this morning with the intention of doing the right thing for the environment.
Motorists were drawn by the first countywide collection of old electronic equipment and the annual sale of ever-popular composting bins. Organizers of the events apparently didn't arrange for extra police to control traffic, police said. "I don't think anybody anticipated it would be that big," said Madison police Sgt. Patrick Grady. Officers from Madison, Monona, Fitchburg and the Dane County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to the area after traffic began piling up around John Nolan Drive, Rimrock Road and the Beltline. "Dispatch said they had 150 calls from people stuck in traffic," Grady said. Dane County Department of Public Works officials were collecting televisions, computers, compact disc players, cell phones -- just about any type of home electronics gear for free recycling. "This free drop-off is both the economically and environmentally friendly way to get rid of old electronics," Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk said in a statement last week promoting the event. "Given the recent changeover to digital television, there are a lot of old TVs out there with toxic materials in them that we want to keep out of our groundwater and landfill." Also available Saturday were the popular Earth Machine Home Composter sponsored by the city of Madison and Dane County. The bins cost $40 and 1,000 of them went on sale at 9 a.m. Rain barrel systems from Sustain Dane also were available for purchase at the sale, $90 for a single-barrel system and $145 for a dual-barrel system. Steven Verburg
State Journal |
