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Fall leaves have lingered on trees much later than normal this year, leading to slippery conditions all over the city. Metro once again had to place speed restrictions on all trains passing through above-ground stations over the weekend, and we spotted more than a few people stepping carefully through wet and leaf-covered sidewalks this morning after last night's storm. Seems like a good time to remind everyone how fall leaf collection works in the District.
Leaf collection began at the beginning of November and will go through Jan. 12, 2008. DPW generally does three passes through each neighborhood to collect leaves throughout this period. To find out when the next scheduled pass by your house is, head over to this online status application and enter your address. The best way to ensure that your front yards, sidewalks and/or gutters are safe and clear of leaves is to rake all those leaves and pile them in treeboxes, where DPW will them come and collect them. Don't pile leaves in the street, as that can create a fire hazard if car parks on top of them. Remember that in D.C., residents are generally responsible for cleaning the sidewalks immediately in front of their property.
If the DPW leaf collection schedule isn't going to meet your needs and you'd like to dispose of leaves yourself, this can be done for free at the Fort Totten Transfer Station, at 4900 Bates Road NE, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. If you believe leaves were not collected as reflected on the online schedule, call the Mayor's Citywide Call Center at (202) 727-1000 or fill out an online request.
Photo by pete etchells
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wait, the scheduled "passes" through a neighborhood seem to take weeks - is it cool to put leaves out *at any time* during the pass, or do you have to have them out on Day One?
You should have them out on Day 1 if you can to be safe. Like I mentioned though, if your leaves seem like they were missed even though your neighbors' got collected, call the Citywide Call Center.
thanks for posting this, sommer. i was starting to wonder if the tramped mush that is leaf detritus in my neighborhood was ever going to be taken away.
now, here's a follow-up question. if leaves don't get raked in to tree boxes, but are just left in a huge pile on the sidewalk in front of a house, will DPW pick those up, or will they stay there for the winter? (in other words, how far off street does DPW go to suck up leaves?)
They're supposed to pick those up as well. It's just better to put them in treeboxes if you can, since there's less of a chance they'll be spread out again on the sidewalk if they're in the box, and DPW definitely specifically checks every treebox.
Carefully rake the leaves into a pile, taking care to cover it with a tarp if rain or wind is expected, so that the city can dump it in landfill next to your recycling.