Trailer of trash left out for month on west side Detroit street

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Neighbors say a trailer full of trash has been sitting for about a month, abandoned in the middle of their street.

A trailer full of trash with the sides falling off, and a construction barrel out alerting the heavy equipment to go around it. But this shouldn't even be there on Euclid, a residential street on the city's west side.

"It's a mess, I would have thought it would be cleaned up in at least a week," said Teddy Larkins.

FOX 2: "How long has it been here?"

"A month," said Larkins. "A good month."

Teddy Larkins says a truck was hauling the trailer when it broke an axle. The driver unhooked the trailer and just left it full of old roofing materials and now, even more junk.

"They did the cleanup and then left the mess," he said.

And that's not all, it's not just a mess - it's dangerous.

"He shifted over and boom - hit my car - backed up and took off," said Cher bre' Jones.

Jones, a mother of four, has no car after hers was totaled by a driver swerving to avoid the trailer on a rainy night a couple of weeks ago. Another car was damaged as well.

"It wasn't like that, it was a whole trailer at one point," Jones said. "You can see everybody's been hitting it - running into it - and now it's just breaking apart on the street."

FOX 2 contacted the mayor's office and the department of public works came out immediately. Bonnie Walden is just grateful the trailer and the garbage are going to be gone, she says she's been calling 911 for weeks.

"I called 911 about three or four times," Walden said. "I went over to the 10th Precinct, showed them pictures, he gave me the number to community relations."

She called there and an officer came out. But the Department of Public Works told FOX 2 they were never alerted to the situation until we called.

They want residents to know how to contact the right department for their problems.  The Improve Detroit app is one way, along with the city's website or a call to the mayor's office.

"One of the challenges the residents have, it's why the Improve Detroit app is so vital," said Dhaval Patel, supervisor with DPW. "It directs any and all service requests to the proper authorities automatically and we love that side of it. It is so beneficial to us to be able to provide a service to residents in a timely manner."

"I didn't know who to call but I'm so glad you all made it out here," said Walden. "Thank you, I'm just happy to have this eyesore gone, because it was a danger to the street."