DETROIT (WXYZ) — The city of Detroit is on a mission to make neighborhood alleyways accessible once again.
The city says about 40 years ago, many of the neighborhood alleyways were closed off due to a rodent problem, but now decades later, they're overgrown and filled with mounds of trash.
Deborah Newby has lived in her Detroit neighborhood by Grand River Avenue for 10 years and said when she saw alley clean-up crews behind her home Thursday morning she said, "Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus."
Newby said she's tried her best to ignore the blight for almost a decade, "I don’t go back there. I keep my blinds closed, I don’t look out."
The two alleyways being cleared in her neighborhood Thursday are two out of thousands across the city of Detroit.
Detroit Alley Neighborhood Clean Up Unit Supervisor, Leslie Ellison said, "After 40 years you can imagine what’s coming out of those alleys and how much debris."
When asked about some of the wilder things they've found in alleyways Ellison responded, "We’ve found a couple of assault rifles and stuff like that."
He said when they find something dangerous they call police.
They also often come across sinkholes, live wires, animal bodies, auto parts and more.
According to Ellison, there are four alley clean-up teams across the city doing this work most every weekday.
Each team cleans up about two alleys a day for a total of about eight to 10 Detroit alleys being cleaned up every week.
One step further, when the teams come across certain abandoned homes Tasha Sewell's city of Detroit Demolition Team secures them by using plywood and plexiglass to make them safer, look better, and get them ready for potential auction.
"We come into their neighborhood, we have residents that have lived over here 30, 40 years they just want to know, they want to see things improving," said Sewell.
From blight to beauty.
Ellison said the goal is to eventually clean up 7,000 Detroit alleys, "When we get finished in there them alleys are gonna be like streets."
Newby told 7 Action News she plans to use her new space to build a privacy fence for her grandson to play behind.
"Well I hope the people on the block come together and we can continue to keep it up," said Newby.
If you need your alley cleaned there's a link on the city of Detroit website where you can submit an application.
