@BikeNewton tweeted this Friday..
Unnecessary road hazards #thingsgottachange pic.twitter.com/wuSUqacWkJ
— Bike Newton (@BikeNewton) October 31, 2014
Crazy Divers: Men be like...
drivers man be like
@BikeNewton tweeted this Friday..
Unnecessary road hazards #thingsgottachange pic.twitter.com/wuSUqacWkJ
— Bike Newton (@BikeNewton) October 31, 2014
Crazy Divers: Men be like...
drivers man be like
OK…I can’t help it…my name is on 5 of the 6 comments on the right side of Village 14’s column (although Jerry spelled my name wrong!). So I am forced to comment here:
Did the home owner put the leaves there to be swept up by city leaf-eaters scheduled to come by soon? Where would a home owner put the leaves for said street leaf-eater?
And…wouldn’t it be fun to get off your bike and jump in the leaves for a minute?
You know Sallee, that whole city leaf eater thing has always puzzled me. Every fall I’ll notice times when a bunch of people pile their leaves in the street for pickup by the city. But I’ve always wondered: How do they know when to do so? Is it posted some place?
There is a conspiracy going on…I never know when the leaf-eater is to be loosed either. A cursory view of the City website and a “leaf sweeping” search brought no light. Are there local squirrels who tell? Birds?
City leaf-eaters? I thought leaves were supposed to be bagged and set out for curb-side recycling.
I’ve always assumed that the city machines are intended to clear the debris that naturally accumulates on the street – not to dispose of mountains of leaves that homeowners blow off their property into the streets, rather than bagging them up as the vast majority of home owners do.
I know, right? But I’ve seen people do it and they seem to know the day the sweeper is coming by.
A related annoyance is when you’re walking or riding along and come to a massive leaf-blower storm. Sometimes the workers will pause, but not if they have their backs to you.
I’ve lived in West Newton, near the Auburndale line, for more than 20 years, and have never seen piles like this on the road in my neighborhood, nor have I ever seen a “city leaf sweeper.” I have seen these piles in other neighborhoods, primarily ones where the majority of properties seem to be taken care of by landscapers, and always assumed they were left there by the landscapers, who would be back with a private truck to get them – not that that makes it any better, but it would be really infuriating to find out that some neighborhoods get their leaves picked up by the city.
Oh, sigh! I just don’t understand the need to gather up leaves and cart them away when one can simply go over the leaves with the lawn mower and grind them up. The mulched up leaves do a nifty job of returning nutrients to the lawn and by next spring you’ll never even see any residue of those ground up leaves. (And yes, I do get lots and lots of leaves in my yard.) A mulching blade on the lawn mower works really well, but frankly even a standard blade will get the job done.
I too have seen those leaf behemoths from time to time over the years. One day I noticed piles like this out on various side streets. The next morning the hulking machine was going house to house sucking up the leaves with its giant vacuum nozzle. Pretty impressive actually.
I always thought I had simply missed the memo as to when this was to take place. I’m truly intrigued by the fact that others here also seem to be in the dark about this as well. Have we inadvertently uncovered some sort of shadowy secret society?
There are ordinances on this, and from time to time the city has posted a statement that it’s illegal to put leaves in the street for the sweeper to pick up. I don’t have one to reference. (Waltham does operate this way though, I think)
That said, the street sweeping schedule is online.
We’ve always mulched our leaves with the lawn mover. But there’s this. How do some have their leaves picked up in the street? Maybe privately.
Weekly collections will resume the week of March 31st, 2014 and continue until the week of December 8th, 2014, weather permitting.
Place in paper yard waste bags or barrel labeled “YARD WASTE ONLY”.
Include grass clippings, tree leaves, tree and shrub prunings , wood chips, small vegetable and flower plants, and other vegetative matter.
http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/dpw/recycling/composting/
Wait – are we talking about two different things? Aren’t “street sweepers” those cool little trucks with the spinning brushes that run along the edge of the road sweeping up accumulated dirt/sand/gunk? That’s different from the big trucks with the huge vacuum hoses that suck up leaves.
In addition to the mystery about why someone felt entitled to leave their leaves here, let’s not lose track of the original intention of this Tweet from @bikenewton.
This is dangerous.
Agreed. Right up there with the city periodically putting portable “Safety” signs in the bike lane on Centre St. Have come across that at least twice.
So yeah, to the original point- putting leaves out like that is dangerous.
Hmmm….I never knew that the city came around to pick up those piles – I thought that individual private landscapers did that for their customers. I figured that they put them on the street, and then, when all of their customer’s lawns were done, they came back and “ate” them all on the same day. I think it is terribly unsafe. If it is a City “thing”, it really should be stopped — we can’t afford decent snow removal on sidewalks but can pick up people’s piles of leaves from on our streets??
Are the leaves still there? If not, do you know how they were disposed of?
@Greg Reibman thanks for bringing the tweet to a broader audience.
I took the photo while biking on Homer St. The pile of leaves was there for 3 days, two days before I took the picture, and removed sometime during the day on Nov. 1st. This time of year, many private contract landscapers blow the leaves out on the street for pickup by a truck equipped with a large vacuum. Clearly, this particular pile happen to be placed in a way that was a hazard to a cyclist – completely blocking the shoulder of the road giving me no other option but to negotiate traveling in the eastbound lane. I see this as an example of a public good, a roadway, being used in a manner inconsiderate of others. The roadway was being used as a temporary storage area for convenient pickup at a later time without consideration of creating a hazard for cyclists. There are many hazards to biking in and around Newton, this one was just seemed overtly thoughtless and avoidable (seen it too many times!), hence the tweet of frustration.
The mayor did communicate his concern after learning of this incident.
Raking leaves into the gutter violates City of Newton Ordinances 26-24 and 20-51. The City does not vacuum leaves.
Sec. 26-24. Permitting material to remain upon sidewalks and streets.
No person shall suffer his fuel, dirt, ashes or other rubbish or any other material to remain on any sidewalk or any street, or in any manner to obstruct any sidewalk or street crossing, without a permit from the commissioner of public works. If so permitted to remain overnight, the owner thereof shall place and keep a sufficient light over or near the same through the night in order to give notice thereof to travelers.
Sec. 20-51. Depositing of litter.
No person shall in any manner place or deposit or cause to be placed or deposited on any street or sidewalk, or on any park, playground or other public grounds, or upon any other premises, without the consent of the owner thereof, any noxious substance or liquid or any discarded articles or materials or any rubbish or litter of any kind except in containers set out for collection in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 11 of the Revised Ordinances.
Source: http://apps.newtonma.gov/DPW/streetsweeping/schedule.htm