Mayor's Office

I was happy to have Streets Superintendent Charlie Romines join me in my media briefing this week. He shared some helpful information regarding our Streets Division work and winter operations.

Starting the week of December 13, you will now see weekly set-out options when you make a large item work order during most of the year. It’s true. Weekly.

You need to fill out the work order form for your large item pickup and then set the items out for pickup on the date you selected. The Streets Division was able to use the data from the first six months of the large item system to greatly increase the services, while also not sacrificing the fuel savings and efficiencies of the work order system. Each week will have a maximum number of set-outs available. The max number should be high enough where everyone will see weekly set-out chances throughout most of the year. Remember to wait to set out your large items until the date you selected, too. If you set the items out days, or even weeks early it adds clutter to the neighborhood.

To fill out our large item work order, go to www.cityofmadison.com/LargeItemWorkOrder.

The last chance collection for curbside leaf collection has ended. The equipment used to collect leaves are undergoing the conversion to winter operations. The small vehicles used to pull leaves from the terrace are being outfitted with plows and salt-spreading units to be ready to plow sidewalks and bus stops when the snow arrive. And the street sweepers have been shipped out for their annual maintenance overall to be ready for the spring.

Residents with yard waste should instead take it to a Streets Division drop-off site. The drop-off sites are now on reduced winter hours. Only the drop-off sites at 1501 W. Badger Rd and 4602 Sycamore Ave. are open. The location at 402 South Point Rd is closed. The hours are 7:30am to 2:30pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Friday. These hours will remain in effect until April 2022. To get the other drop-off site rules and regulations, check out the drop-off sites website, www.cityofmadison.com/DropOffSites.

Even with temperatures nearly 60 this week, we are two weeks into December so we all must be prepared for winter. And there are many tools available for you on the City of Madison winter website, www.cityofmadison.com/winter. You can sign up to receive Snow Plow Updates, which are sent out each time a plow trucks are out on the roads, so you can know how the Streets Division is responding to a storm event. You can also sign up to receive Snow Emergency notifications, and daily alternate side parking reminders to be sure you are parking correctly to help with snowplowing operations and to avoid tickets. And you can get information like winter recreation opportunities or alerts on when to clear snow from you sidewalk, and details on how to use salt correctly.

Salt used during winter months all finds its way to our waterways – including the water we drink. Streets Division remains committed to lessening the amount of salt spread on Madison roadways. From new equipment to do more pre-treatment of roadways to new scales for gather more precise salting data, Streets will continue to doing what’s possible to use less salt while keeping the roads safe.

However, Streets is not alone in using salt. Everyone who spreads salt in sidewalks, driveways, and parking lots plays a role here, too. All of us need to be sure that if we are using salt, we are using it correctly.

All the tools you need on how to use salt correctly are in the Salt and Sustainability section of the City’s winter website. And also check out the Smart Winter Salting guide on the Wisconsin Salt Wise page.

Stay safe this winter, and if you see our Streets Division workers out there, give them a wave and a thank you for keeping our streets in good shape!