Every autumn, municipalities that offer leaf collection have to try to time efforts in such a way that it begins when a bulk of leaves has fallen but ends before the snow falls.
Unfortunately for the City of Cambridge, Mother Nature wasn’t working with its timeline.
Mild weather this fall kept the leaves on the trees a little longer than normal. Then a major snowstorm blew through the region last month, burying and freezing the remaining leaf litter.
This forced city crews to pivot from leaf collection to snow removal. But the leaves remain.
Now, the city is working to clean up any remaining problem spots.
Mike Hausser, Director of Operations at the City of Cambridge, told 570 NewsRadio about the plan.
“One of our contractors started today (Dec 12) we’re hoping a second contractor can start next week. They will pick up what leaves they can find or snow to address anything that is still heavy on the roadway or the boulevard and people’s driveway entrances. It will likely take a couple of weeks.”
Hausser said at this point, there isn’t much a property owner can do to help. But he did mention that making sure sewer grates are clear of debris is pretty important, especially if there is a thaw.
“Because we know we haven’t covered all of the areas, there is definitely gonna be some higher risk of some of these catch basins being clogged up with leaves. So, we absolutely encourage residents to take a look at their catch basins in front of their properties.”
Hausser also said if there is a more serious issue being caused by remaining leaves, residents can visit the Service Cambridge portal and report the problem.