PBOT says picking up leaves ‘public safety issue’

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - This weekend the Portland Bureau of Transportation will be in Portland neighborhoods picking up leaves.

PBOT said they will pick up leaves in areas with the most leaf drop, because leaves can make the roads slick, making it a public safety issue.

PBOT said to rake the leaves onto the street one day before the scheduled pick-up. They also said in order to avoid a citation and a large towing price tag, to move your vehicle off the street by 7:30 a.m. on leaf day.

Jill has lived in a leaf district for 20 years. She says it only takes about an hour to clear her yard but likes to get a head start.

“Our leaf day is the day before Thanksgiving and I don’t want to be out here doing it just have a little bit to do instead of a lot. It’s a little bit of a hassle to leave it all to the end, because the leaves are wet and heavy,” says Jill. “The other thing is just to get it out of the gutter, because the leaves flow down into our sewer and then there a bunch of leaves on there, and it all backs up.”

PBOT said for those who don’t live in a leaf district, you’ll have to rake the leaves yourself. That’s because residential street sweeping outside of the leaf boundary program was suspended in June 2023 due to budget cuts.

“It’s super important to the environment you know just the floods that happened down there at the corners and down there if we don’t do our part.”

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