The City of Great Falls annual leaf pickup begins Oct. 30.

The leaf pickup program is in the city’s boulevard district and is funded by those owning property within the district through an annual assessment.

City forestry crews will follow the area schedule, which is subject to change depending on weather, equipment failure, personnel availability and any unforeseen emergencies, according to Park and Recreation.

Any schedule changes will be posted on the city website and the Park and Rec Facebook page.

The city has launched an interactive map this year for citizens to see current pickup information on completed routes and where crews are working.

Park and Rec crews will vacuum leaves from the boulevards and will not be manually raking up leaves.

Boulevard district residents are asked to:

• place leaf piles closest to the street side of your boulevard residence
• do not place leaves towards the sidewalk or in the street gutter
• do not place leaves around parked vehicles, as the new machines need a minimum of two feet of clearance around of any obstacle
• do not place leaves around tree bases, signs, light poles, or any other obstacles.

To avoid obstructing traffic or clogging storm drains, residents are being asked to deposit leaves on the boulevard next to the curb and not in the street gutter, where rain, snow and vehicles make them impossible to pick up, according to city staff.

Piles with branches, grass clippings, garden waste and pet waste cause damage to the equipment and will not be picked up. Residents should arrange for pickup of those items with their sanitation provider.

Leaves should be raked out to the boulevard by 7 a.m. on your scheduled pickup day since crews will not backtrack through the area that same day if leaves aren’t ready to go, according to Park and Rec.

Previously, the forestry division had three crews for leaf pickup, but is short staffed again this year and will be working with two crews.

Again this year, if your residence is on the left hand side of a one-way in any of the areas, your residence will not follow the posted schedule and will instead be picked up intermittently throughout the leaf pickup schedule due to equipment complexity, according to Park and Rec.

Residents of the boulevard district are asked to remove vehicles from the street and avenues on their scheduled pickup day to allow for vacuuming and street sweeping.

Crews operate 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

For further information, call the Park and Recreation office at 406- 771-1265, or check the city website and the Park and Rec Facebook page for updates.

Oct. 30 (avenues), Oct. 31 (avenues and streets) and Nov. 1 (streets): Area 1: upper northside, Central Avenue to 5th Avenue North from 23rd Street North to 38th Street North

Nov. 4 (avenues), Nov. 6 (avenues and streets) and Nov. 7 (streets): Area 2: northside, Central Avenue to 8th Avenue North from 15th Street North to 23rd Street North

Nov. 8 (avenues), Nov. 11 (avenues and streets) and Nov. 13 (streets): Area 3: lower northside, Central Avenue to 8th Avenue North from Park Drive to 15th Street North

Nov. 14 (avenues) and Nov. 15 (streets): Area 5: westside, Central Avenue West to 4th Avenue Southwest from 3rd Street Southwest to 11th Street Southwest

Nov. 18 (avenues), Nov. 19 (avenues and streets) and Nov. 20 (streets): Area 4: lower southside, Central Avenue to 9th Avenue South from 2nd Street South to 13th Street South

Nov. 21 (avenues) and Nov. 22 (streets): Area 6: Great Falls High, Central Avenue to 3rd Avenue South from 14th Street South to 23rd Street South