The City of Madison will begin the annual Fall leaf collection on Monday, October 3rd.  The Streets Division will continue to collect leaves as long as the weather permits through late November and early December.
 
As in years past, there will be no leaf collection schedule.  Streets Division crews will follow a rotation.  Beginning on October 3, both west and east side crews will begin collecting leaves from residences within the Monday refuse collection district.   Once crews have collected from each street within the Monday refuse district once, crews will move into the Tuesday district.  After servicing the Tuesday district, crews then rotate to the Wednesday district, followed by the Thursday and then Friday refuse districts.  Upon completion of Friday refuse district, crews will begin the cycle again in Monday district.  Crews will continue to cycle through the city in this manner for as long as the weather allows.   
 
Leaves and yard waste is generally considered to be leafy plant material, and also small twigs less than 18 inches in length.  Crews will also collect other yard waste and garden debris during the fall leaf collection period.  This material includes pumpkins, corn stalks, pine cones, and so on.
 
When placing yard waste to the curb, the Streets Division would like to remind residents to follow the collection guidelines and not place their material into the gutter or in the street.  Leaf piles left in the street result in the material being washed into the lakes during the autumn rains, which leads to increased phosphorus levels in the lakes that contribute to algae and weed growth.
 
The Streets Division asks that residents pile their leaves and yard waste loose on their terrace or in compostable paper bags.  If compostable or plastic bags are used, they should be left open at the top so crews can identify their contents. Residents can also use a tarp on top of their leaves to prevent them from blowing. 
 
Brush should not be mixed within the yard waste and leaf pile.  Brush is processed differently than yard waste, so these piles need to be separated.  Commingled piles will not be collected.  Also, if possible, residents are encouraged to place their leaf and yard waste piles at least 4 feet from obstructions, such as parked cars and mailboxes. Piles that cannot be safely collected will be left behind.
 
Due to the uncertainty of workloads and weather conditions, predicting when leaf collection crews will be in a given area can be very difficult.  The Streets Division has several options residents can use to get the latest information on where crews are working.
 
During the leaf collection season, daily updates regarding the whereabouts of the collection crews can be found on the collection maps on the leaf and yard waste section of our website.  Residents can also call the 24-hour hotline information line at 608-267-2088 for weekly collection estimate updates.  And residents can contact the Streets Division office that services their neighborhood to get more information.  Residents east of S. Park Street, and that includes the isthmus, can call the east side Streets Division at 608-246-4532 and residents west of S. Park Street can call the west side Streets Division at 608-266-4681. 
 
In addition to using our collection service, Madison residents can bring their leaves to any of the three yard waste drop off sites.  The sites are open seven days a week from 8:30am to 4:30pm and until 8:00pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  The yard waste sites are located at 1501 W. Badger Rd on the southwest side, 4602 Sycamore Ave. on the east side and 402 South Point Rd. on the far west side.  These sites will be open at these hours until December 4, 2016.