City looks to add overnight cleaning in downtown London. Will it really fix the garbage problem?

The City of London is hoping to “get ahead” of its daily downtown litter problem by launching a pilot project that will see contractors cleaning while many Londoners are still in bed.

On Wednesday, the city posted a request for proposals (RFP) on its bids and tenders portal for overnight cleaning services in the downtown, midtown and Old East Village neighbourhoods.

Once a contractor is selected, they will be expected to remove garbage, sharps and biohazardous waste from sidewalks between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m at least five days a week, according to city documents.

“I just moved into an apartment on Richmond Street and just my five-minute walk from work to my house is pretty much disgusting," said Londoner Wassim Mecheri. “It’s a lot of trash and liquids on the ground. It’s not clean at all, to be honest.”

The city’s director of transportation and mobility, Doug MacRae, said there is an increased focus on maintaining cleanliness across London this year.

The city already sends out cleaning services throughout the day, he said, so the proposed project would extend litter collection to overnight hours.

“What we hear from Londoners is that cleanliness and the appearance of our city is important, so we know that if we can keep ahead of the issue … that work will happen more efficiently,” MacRae said.

Tara Davies, who owns DoughEV near the corner of Dundas and Adelaide in Old East Village, says she sees the cleanliness issue every day.

“Generally, it’s lots of single-use products, single-use food containers, plastic bags, clothing, anything,” she said. “We definitely have an issue with people having to relieve themselves outside because they don’t have any other options, so when you get a whole bunch of people urinating or having to defecate in the streets, it’s unpleasant.”

However, Davies said she does not expect the city’s overnight clean up project to be a long-term solution.

“The city is very good at throwing money at symptoms of homelessness, but realistically, they’re going to be cleaning the streets forever,” she said.

Davies said she wants the city and province to address the root of the mess on London sidewalks, including a lack of 24-hour bathrooms and upcoming closure of the Carepoint consumption site, which could lead to more needles on the street.

“I think we need to start fixing the actual issue,” she said.

MacRae said the overnight cleanup project is not in response to any specific event, such as Carepoint’s closure, and that “dealing with sharps and biohazards is just an ordinary part of work in public spaces.”

Londoner Carrie Desjardins said that while she likes the city’s cleanup plan, she also wants officials to continue addressing homelessness and addiction.

“Without finding a solution to that, you’re not finding a solution to anything,” she said.

Deshardins added that a cleaner downtown is likely to bring more people to the area.

“A lack of cleanliness will make people believe that it’s also a lack of safety,” she said. “If it’s unkempt, dirty, there’s garbage around, or there’s even drug paraphernalia … it deters people from the downtown core.”

Davies said she’s noticed that first-hand at her business.

“If it’s really unpleasant to walk somewhere, people aren’t going to do it,” she said. “We definitely need to find a solution. I’m not sure cleaning overnight is going to be the payoff that people think.”

Davies said she also has concerns about what will happen to Londoners sleeping on the sidewalks that will be cleaned and power washed overnight.

“You can’t sleep where it’s wet or where people are cleaning, but where these people are going to move is the bigger question. We don’t have enough overnight spaces for people on the street,” she said.

MacRae said the city will follow the same procedures as when it starts daytime cleaning at 5 a.m., by having its coordinated informed response team out to interact with those sleeping rough.

“It’s to deal with individuals respectfully and also get the work done in the public right-of-way that we need to,” he explained.

However, Davies said she expects that to create more challenges for business owners in OEV and the downtown core.

“Asking a person to move, who’s already been asked to move 15 times before that, puts yourself in a situation that is not always safe for yourself. I can’t imagine that someone who’s been moved multiple times overnight is going to feel like moving in the morning when I have to open my store,” Davies said.

The city is accepting bids from contractors until July 10 and MacRae said it’s expected that a contractor will be chosen and begin work by the end of summer.