‘Rat street’ causing concerns as Pitt students return to campus

PITTSBURGH — For weeks, a mother has been sounding the alarm about all the trash on Chesterfield Road in Oakland, and on Wednesday, one day after collection, piles of garbage remained.

A concerned parent, Teresa Pugliese, sent Channel 11 a video of rats on Chesterfield Road where her daughter, a Pitt student, will soon live.

“I watched this group of four rats run back and forth across the street and up and down the street visiting different piles of garbage,” Pugliese said.

Mom Pugliese said that was her tipping point because for weeks the street has been lined with trash in the yards, on the road and on sidewalks.

“I understand that the amount of garbage and waste and debris is coming from students moving in and out it’s not an excuse to leave it there,” Pugliese said.

Pugliese said she even sent messages to the city but got no response, so we went over to Chesterfield Road to see for ourselves and speak with neighbors.

“Rat street, I’ve heard students walking up and down this street says oh this is the rat street,” said neighbor Danna Rzecznik.

The small cobblestone street is located between UPMC Montefiore Hospital and Carlow University and just a few blocks from the University of Pittsburgh’s campus.

Resident Rzecnik said while there are only a few dozen houses on the street, there are likely hundreds of rats and the garbage left from her neighbors is the cause.

“Throw bags out into the street don’t use lids don’t put garbage bags in the cans it just gets thrown about eventually,” Rzecnik said.

But Pugliese said that how the trash gets there is far less important than how it gets cleaned up and wants the city to handle the problem now.

“I like the students to do their part and I like the city to do their part and let’s do our best to get rid of the rats,” Pugliese said.

Channel 11 reached out to the city and they provided the following statement:

“Trash pickup is on Tuesday and individuals placed trash out after crews had made their rounds. The University of Pittsburgh does collection pickup on Friday while the city does an extra collection on Saturday during this time of year (students moving into off-campus space).”

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