Fall leaf collection program
Published on: Sunday, November 1, 2015 Takoma Park Newsletter

Fall leaf collection program

Loose leaf collection will be provided by the City from Nov. 16 through Dec. 18. Residents can rake leaves to the curb at their convenience during the fiveweek period. Most streets do not have an assigned collection day. The goal of the program is to collect leaf piles within two weeks of their appearance at the curb. Leaf collection is dependent on the weather and rain, or freezing conditions can slow collection.

There are five streets that receive collection days on scheduled days. These streets are State Highway routes and have a heavy volume of traffic.

  • Carroll Avenue, from 7000 to 7800 block
  • Ethan Allen Avenue
  • Philadelphia Avenue

Collection for these streets will take place Saturday, Nov. 21 and Monday, Dec. 21.

  • Piney Branch Road
  • Flower Avenue, from 7900 to 8600 block

Collection for these streets will take place Monday, Nov. 23 and Saturday, Dec. 12.

There will be no collection on the Thanksgiving holiday, which is observed on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 26 and 27. Also, on the dates of collection for the posted streets, no other streets will receive collection (November 21, 23 and December 12, 21).

During the first three weeks of collection, the crews will concentrate on picking up large piles of leaves. During the last two weeks, the crews will thoroughly collect all remaining loose leaves from the gutter and grassy strip along the curb.

The Public Works Department welcomes your comments and suggestions about the service we provide. You can also call the leaf collection hotline at 301-891- 7626 to notify us when your leaves have been raked out. Our goal is to collect leaf piles reported on the hotline within 10 days of the call.

Please follow these guidelines:

  • Rake leaves into a pile at the edge of the curb. Do not rake leaves into the street. Leaf piles can create traffic hazards.
  • Do not park your car in front of a leaf pile, and when raking please avoid piling leaves where cars are likely to park.
  • The vacuum leaf collection is for leaves only. Do not include branches, brush, vines, rocks or debris. These items can seriously damage equipment and delay collection.
  • Do not pile leaves near storm drain inlets. Leaves can block the drains and cause flooding problems.

The City also provides weekly Monday collection for bagged grass, leaves, branches and brush all year long. The Monday collection requires leaves and loose yard materials to be in paper bags, trash cans or stiff-sided containers. Plastic bags cannot be used for yard material because these items are composted, and the plastic interferes with the composting process. Branches must be less than four feet long and less than three inches in diameter and tied into small bundles or stacked in a trash can. The Monday yard waste collection is cancelled when a holiday is observed on Monday.

This article appeared in the October 2015 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.