SEATTLE — Seattle businesses and property owners are funding the cleanup of several downtown streets to help kickstart recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Metropolitan Improvement District (MID) is adding 18 new cleaning trikes to their fleet. The trikes are to help clean team ambassadors get to issues quicker.
Ambassadors clean up graffiti, trash of all kinds and hazardous materials. They often start clean-up early in the morning.
In the last year, the team cleaned more than 1.4 million gallons of trash. The trikes were bought as part of the MID's $15.5 million budget. "So each new trike costs about $2,500 to $3,000 per trike," said Jennifer Casillas with Metropolitan Improvement District.
All MID's services are funded by business and property owners. Sandy Lew-Hailer has been the owner of Sandylew in downtown Seattle for 14 years.
"For about three years we called ourselves the urination destination," said Lew-Hailer, whose storefront looks much different these days. "They wash it down, including the sidewalk, it's a miracle."
The team is filling a gap within the city to ensure tourists and locals feel welcome.
"It's like a garden, it needs to look like somebody loves it. The whole city needs to feel like somebody loves it," said Lew-Hailer.