Great Falls Park and Recreation’s annual leaf pickup program gets underway in the boulevard district later this month.
This year’s program is scheduled to begin the week of Oct. 27 and run through Dec. 5.
During the week of Oct. 20, city crews will be conducting equipment tests in preparation of the leaf pickup and may be picking up leaf piles throughout the district but it’s not the official start of the pickup program and crews won’t be able to respond to individual pickup requests.
Due to staffing changes, the city isn’t able to provide a fixed leaf pickup schedule but will begin in Area 1 the week of Oct. 27 with crews working sequentially through the remaining areas each week.
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.
The city’s leaf pickup areas are:
- Area 1: the upper northside, streets and avenues from Central Avenue to 5th Avenue North from 23rd to 38th Street
- Area 2: northside, streets and avenues from Central Avenue to 8th Avenue North from 15th to 23rd Street
- Area 3: lower northside, avenues and streets from Central Avenue to 8th Avenue North from Park Drive to 15th Street
- Area 4: lower southside, streets and avenues from Central Avenue to 9th Avenue South from 2nd to 13th Street
- Area 5: westside, avenues and streets from Central Avenue West to 4th Avenue Southwest from 3rd to 11th Street Southwest
- Area 6: avenues and streets from Central Avenue to 3rd Avenue South from 14th to 23rd Street
City forestry crews have been reduced in recent years and this will be the third season that leaf pickup will be managed by two crews instead of three.
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 and staffing shortages, according to Park and Rec.
Leaves are vacuumed from the boulevards and there will be no manual raking again this year. The city stopped manual raking after the 2020 season and started using new equipment in 2021.
Boulevard district residents are asked to:
- place your leaf piles on the boulevard, next to the curb, on the street side of your boulevard residence
- not place leaves on the sidewalk or in the street gutter, as rain, snow, and vehicles driving on the piles make it impossible to pick up the leaves
- not place leaves around parked vehicles, as the machines need a minimum of two feet of clearance around of any obstacle
- not place leaves around tree bases, signs, light poles, or any other obstacles
If you bagged your leaves, they’ll be collected at a later time by staff as time allows throughout the leaf pickup program.
Leaf piles that include branches, grass clippings, garden waste and pet waste cause damage to the equipment and will not be picked up. Pickup for those items should be arranged with your sanitation provider.
Leaves should be raked out to the boulevard by 7 a.m. on Monday of your scheduled week.
Due to the staff shortage, if leaves are not ready when crews go through your area, they won’t backtrack for collection and there will be no second pass through.
Vehicles should be removed from the street on the scheduled pickup week to allow for vacuuming and public works will street sweep after pickup.
The forestry division operates from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.
For more information, call Park and Rec at 406-771-1265, check the city website, or check the Park and Rec Facebook page for updates.
