Leaves are just starting to fall and the Department of Public Works is ready to deploy 200 employees Monday, November 8, 2010 to start collecting them. Leaf collection season runs through January 15, 2011, and every neighborhood in the District will have its leaves collected.
Leaf collection is our most labor-intensive program. For two and a half months, DPW crews work six days a week, including Veterans Day and Thanksgiving Day, across the District. Each neighborhood is given two, two-week collection cycles. Please check the leaf collection brochure, which was mailed to households receiving DPW trash/recycling collection services, or go online to http://leaf.dcgis.dc.gov/ learn your collection weeks.”
The program works most effectively when residents rake their leaves into the treebox spaces the weekend before the beginning of their neighborhood’s collection cycles. The crews move fairly quickly, especially in the opening weeks because there are fewer leaves. To make sure your leaves are collected, please rake them into the treebox space or bag them the weekend before the collection cycle begins.
Here are some tips for a smooth-running leaf collection season:
· Look up your street’s collection schedule at http://leaf.dcgis.dc.gov/.
· Rake leaves into the treebox space the weekend before your street’s collection cycles.
· Please – leaves only! Tree limbs, bricks, dirt, rocks, etc., will damage the equipment and delay collections.
· Prevent fires, parking problems and possible flooding by placing leaves in the treebox space, not in the street. When it rains, leaves will block the storm drain and cause flooding. Please remove any leaves you see blocking the storm drain.
· If you choose to bag your leaves, please use paper bags. Plastic bags will damage the equipment. You may place bagged leaves in the treebox space or next to the trash/recycling container(s).
· Protect the safety of our crews by driving slowly around their work area or change your route and avoid them altogether.
Leaf collection season coincides with the beginning of snow season. Leaf collection crews are the backbone of the snow removal program, which means when snow and/or ice are predicted, crews stop collecting leaves to convert the leaf equipment to snow plows. No leaves are collected until after the snow event ends. Even though predictions may not always result in snow, we must have our snow equipment on the street regardless.
Kevin B. Twine
Staff Assistant
Department of Public Works
Office of the Director
2000 14th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
Ph: 202-671-2593
Fx: 202-671-0642
kevin.twine@dc.gov
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