Northwest Houston neighborhood frustrated and 'worried about rodents' with heavy trash piling up

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- It's an eyesore, a hazard, and, in some cases, a pretty stinky mess.

We're talking about heavy trash piling up in the Holley Terrace neighborhood near Blalock Road and Kempwood Drive in northwest Houston.

Residents there say they have called 311 many times and still haven't received help or even a timeline for when help is coming. They said their heavy trash was supposed to be picked up more than a month ago, on Oct. 24. Now, the Halloween pumpkins are rotting, and the trash is getting scary.

"We were hoping before Halloween before the trick-or-treaters came, but they didn't," resident Sherry Solis explained. "And then, I keep calling, and they said they were supposed to be there. 'They're coming, they're coming.'"

"It makes everything look like a mess," resident Greg Bennett said. "Kind of worried about rodents and things like that."

"It's really disappointing," resident Joanna Bates said. "Because I feel like a city wants to grow by introducing new companies, new people to the area, and if I were driving this neighborhood, I would say, 'I'm not living there.'"

SEE ALSO: Overgrown, trashed lot has become 'eyesore' to Houston's Sunnyside neighborhood, resident says

Eyewitness News took their concerns straight to the city's solid waste department. There, a spokesperson said the city is currently dealing with a higher-than-usual volume of heavy waste and is also having a tough time getting proper equipment. He expects this situation to improve in the next month.

He said crews are now expected out here within the next two weeks to pick it up.

Finally, a timeline for these residents who remain skeptical.

"I just don't want to have it until after Christmas. That's the next heavy trash day," Bates said. "We're just going to put lights on all these mounds and just decorate them."

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