With nine days left for curbside yard waste pickup, city officials are warning residents to not rake leaves into the street.

City ordinances prohibit leaves to be swept, raked or blown onto streets, sidewalks, parkways, driveway approaches, gutters and storm sewers.

John Prijic, the city’s superintendent of streets, said this is a common problem for the city, but this fall has been particularly challenging.

“It’s an every year frustration, but this year the leaves all seemed to come down at once,” he said. “Three or four weeks ago we had really high winds, and then it rained and seemed like most of the city was plastered with leaves.

“When it’s gradual, it’s a little easier for us to keep up, but we can’t sweep 280 miles of street in a week.”

Prijic said an abundance of leaves in the streets can create complications.

“If you rake leaves into the street on a rainy day, they act like a dam,” Prijic said. “If it freezes, then you have a big ice floe.”

Prijic said the city once tried collecting all leaves by having residents rake them into the streets, but the city was not satisfied with the results.

“It was a miserable failure,” Prijic said. “It is so labor-intensive, and it takes specialized equipment, which is expensive. It is not an economical use of taxpayer resources.”

Prijic said the city still uses street sweepers to clean up the debris that ends up in the street, but Prijic said there are benefits to keeping the leaves off the streets.

“There’s so much other debris mixed into it on the roads that we can’t recycle those leaves into compost,” Prijic said. “And there is an added cost in taking the leaves to the landfill compared to recycling them.”

Curbside collections end Nov. 28. All leaves and other yard waste are picked up as part of a city resident’s normal collection schedule, provided the lawn debris is gathered in a city-approved biodegradable bag.

After Nov. 28, yard waste can be taken to the yard waste drop off site, 4071 88th Ave. (Highway H). Prijic said the site should remain open well into December.