Fall Leaf Collection Begins October 27 Under New Three-Zone Schedule

WAUKESHA — The city's Department of Public Works will begin its annual fall leaf collection operation on October 27, running crews through three rotating geographic zones over a three-week span that will conclude in mid-November, assuming no complications involving wind, rain, or residents who rake their leaves into the street a zone early.

The Southern zone goes first, from October 27 through 31, followed by the Northern and Eastern zone from November 3 through 7, and finally the North and Western zone from November 10 through 14. The city's Drop-Off Center at 750 Sentry Drive will accept loose leaves at no charge from October 28 through December 19 for residents who would rather not wait for a truck.

Zone Confusion Already Underway

Though the schedule has been public for eleven days, at least one Fairview Avenue homeowner has asked neighbors to clarify her zone assignment five separate times via Nextdoor, each post slightly more specific than the last. Her most recent, posted Thursday at 9:47 p.m., read in full: "Is it the NORTH zone or the NORTH AND WESTERN zone, because those feel like they could be different things and nobody will just say."

City officials say the two are, in fact, the same zone, a point the DPW's public information office has now clarified in writing four times this week.

"We expect the operation to conclude right on schedule, barring unforeseen circumstances involving wind, precipitation, or citizen non-compliance."

— Bob Krueger, retired DPW supervisor

Krueger, who oversaw leaf collection logistics for the city for 22 years before retiring in 2019, said he still receives questions about zone boundaries most autumns, usually forwarded to him by a former coworker who finds it easier to let him field them than to re-explain the map a sixth time.

Equipment And Timing

The DPW will deploy four leaf vacuum trucks and two loader-equipped dump trucks across the three zones, according to a city maintenance supervisor who asked to be identified only by title. Residents are asked to have leaves raked to the curb, free of sticks, rocks, and bagged yard waste, by 7 a.m. on the first day of their zone's window, though crews typically do not reach any given street until somewhere between day two and day four.

Streets not reached within a zone's five-day window will not be revisited until the following zone's pass unless a resident calls to report a full miss, a scenario the DPW says occurs on roughly 6 to 9 streets per season, most of them cul-de-sacs.

A Second Pass Is Not Guaranteed

The city's leaf pickup page notes that each zone receives one pass per scheduled window, not a second sweep for late-dropping trees, a detail that has historically generated complaints from residents with oak trees, which tend to hold their leaves into late November regardless of the city's calendar.

For residents anticipating a late drop, the Sentry Drive drop-off center remains the fallback option through December 19. Those managing their own yard this fall may want a cordless leaf blower (paid link) to move leaves to the curb ahead of their zone's window rather than waiting on a rake.

The DPW said it will post updates to its website if any zone's schedule slips due to weather, and asked that residents direct further boundary questions to the city rather than to each other on Nextdoor, a request Krueger called "optimistic."