Early snow snarls pickup of late-falling leaves

12/7/2002

The combination of a late autumn and an early winter-style storm couldn't have been worse for Toledo's leaf-collection crews.

The four inches of snow that blanketed Toledo Monday covered mounds of leaves lining residential streets. Snow-fighting efforts brought leaf collection to a halt for several days. On some streets, plows put leaves back on yards and driveways.

“This was our worst nightmare for leaf collection,” Bill Franklin, the city's commissioner of streets, bridges, and harbor, said yesterday after summarizing the situation in a memo to city council.

On many side streets plowing the remaining snow has been called off, Mr. Franklin said, because of complaints about leaf piles being plowed. Streets have been salted to improve traction on the hard-packed snow that remains, he said.

“People must be able to get through, because we haven't gotten any complaints about unplowed streets. All the complaints were about the leaves being over the curbs and into the driveways,” Mr. Franklin said. Because of a late leaf drop attributable to a warm September and October, collection began Nov. 4, the latest ever.

Crews will collect leaves today from curbed streets in ZIP Codes 43605, 43608, and 43611.

Crews will collect leaves from uncurbed streets in ZIP Codes 43607 and 43609.