The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) announced today that Leaf Day service will return Saturday, Nov. 1, launching weeks of upcoming work that prevents street flooding in areas that account for the vast majority of leaves that fall on city streets.

PBOT has provided Leaf Day service for more than 30 years, using specialized equipment to sweep thousands of tons of leaves from parts of the city with the most dense leaf cover.

Thanks to additional funding from the City Council, PBOT is undertaking its largest expansion of Leaf Day service in modern memory. The service will cover 82 zones, up from 53 zones of various sizes that historically had the service. New zones were added in each of the four City Council Districts.

This fall, PBOT mailed Leaf Day brochures to nearly 100,000 business and residential addresses. Among those, about 30,000 also received a postcard, announcing they are included in a Leaf Zone for the first time and encouraging those Portlanders to learn how to prepare for the service.

After Saturday, the service continues, covering a few neighborhoods each day, six days a week, through mid January, with a break for holidays including Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. In prior years, crews could cover the routes from early November to mid December.

It's important for everyone who lives or works in a Leaf Zone to know how to prepare for Leaf Day -- especially the thousands of Portlanders who are getting the service for the first time this year:

Know your Leaf Day: Check our Leaf Day website to verify which Leaf Day zone you are in. Enter your address to find your service date and zone. You can also browse an interactive map to see your Leaf Day zone. If you don't have off-street parking, study the boundaries of your zone, to know where you can park your car on the street outside your zone, in preparation for Leaf Day.
Get prepared by raking your leaves into the street, the day before your service, pulling your leaf pile at least a foot away from the curb. Don't place branches, grass clippings or other yard debris in your pile, but pine and fir needles are OK. Remove your vehicle from the street, or out of the zone.
The Leaf Day website has lots of tips, and a copy of the brochure we sent you in the mail. For a quick overview, check out a new Video PBOT prepared: How to Prepare for Leaf Day in Portland!
Don't get towed: If you park a car on the street in Northwest Portland, Goose Hollow or Sullivan's Gulch, your car may be towed on Leaf Day to clear the way for a clean sweep. Mark your calendar and move your car, so you don't get towed!

This work is weather-dependent, and the schedule may change.

Schedule updates, if needed, will be provided on the Leaf Day website and to the email and text message contact lists.

Source: PBOT

Michael DelGiorno