Wauwatosa, along with the rest of southeast Wisconsin, was hit by the first major snowstorm of the season over the weekend, dropping at least 9 inches of snow on the city and even more in other parts of the region.
Now that most residents have shoveled out, the focus is turning back to that perennial fall question: What about curbside leaf pickup?
"Our crews are still hard at work clearing roads [of snow], so thank you for your patience," the city said in a Dec. 1 update on social media and online. It promised to begin a final pass through neighborhoods for leaf collection "once we switch our tractors back over to leaf operations."
Some residents have lamented that city plows, to clear the streets of snow, had pushed some piles of leaves onto curbs or into driveways. The city asked for residents' understanding while crews respond to both the recent snowfall and remaining leaf collection.
"Our drivers will do their best to keep leaves off the grass, but with this much snow and plowing to the curb, some leaves will inevitably get pushed back onto the grass," the update said. And, "with more snow in the forecast, we unfortunately cannot extend the rake-out period."
That means any leaves for pickup should be placed curbside now, before crews make their final pass through the neighborhood. The city has been updating its leaf collection webpage with the crews' progress.
As of the afternoon Dec. 1, leaf collection had been completed in the neighborhoods in the far southeast corner of Wauwatosa. In other neighborhoods, before the storm, city crews had pushed leaves and other yard waste into large piles in the street, which still remained to be picked up by the city's trucks.
