Belleville Looks to Clean Up Washington Avenue

The Belleville Township Council is trying to make the downtown business area of Washington Avenue cleaner in a bid to attract more shoppers.

Residents have complained at public council meetings for years that trash cans are overturned, the street is not swept regularly and that neglect hurts business.

At September meetings, officials said that increased garbage collections and street sweeping are two easy ways to improve the look of the avenue, and both changes are now being worked out.

Deputy Mayor Vincent Cozzarelli proposed increasing garbage pick-ups.

"We need to change the way we pick up garbage on Washington Avenue," Cozzarelli said. "There are too many overturned trash cans."

Township Manager Kevin Esposito said discussion is underway with officials from the Department of Public Works to increase from two- to three-day a week collections on Washington Avenue, and even more help is proposed.

"We also want our spare DPW garbage truck to up and down Washington Avenue and clean up any spilled out garbage cans," Esposito said.

Parking rules may also be amended to restrict parking at certain times of day to allow garbage trucks access to parts of the avenue to clean up, but those specifics are still be worked out with the DPW, he said.

The other major improvement would come from more frequent sweeping of the avenue, Esposito said.