How you take out the trash in Dallas may be changing. The city says it plans to phase out most alley-trash pickups in favor of curbside in the next couple of years, citing worker safety, more efficiency and cost savings.
Each of us generates about five pounds of trash per day, according to the latest estimate from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. So, it’s no surprise the method of how trash is collected is of at least some interest to just about everyone.
A point shared by Dallas District 1 councilmember Chad West, who represents parts of Oak Cliff and Bishop Arts
“This is an issue I have residents I’ve never heard from in five years come out and blow me up over this,” West said, referring to phone calls and messages.
Most Dallas residents already have curbside trash but 38 percent still receive alley collection service.
Cookie Peadon, president of the North Dallas Neighborhood Alliance says homeowners there are concerned with older neighbors being able to manage the physical demands of moving a trash can and recycling bin from an alley to the curb.
“A lot of people up here would resent it and a lot of people up here are elderly now,” Peadon said. “I think a lot of it is mobility challenged.”
Dallas interim city manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert says the city’s sanitation department plans to phase in change.
“This is not overnight where we’re going to make the change, but we definitely have to begin to look at this.”
During a briefing to the city council on Tuesday, the Department of Sanitation Services explained the timing and criteria for alley trash pickup to switch to curbside.
Clifton Gillespie, the director of the sanitation department, says modern trash trucks are nine feet wide and older, and more narrow alleys, simply can’t accommodate larger trucks.
Additionally, Gillespie told councilmembers moving to more curbside pickup could save $9 million per year which he said would slow the growth of increases paid by ratepayers but couldn’t guarantee the sanitation fee would be reduced.
The plan calls for the end of alley trash pickup in eight-foot-wide alleys in January 2026 and nine-foot-wide alleys six months later.
If a 10-foot-wide concrete paved alley has an additional 5 feet of right-of-way, the city says those alleys could maintain trash pick up with automated side-loading trucks able to navigate safely.
The change doesn’t require a vote, so the city council this week is urging a slow rollout.
“I need help communicating this to the neighbors,” District 10 councilmember Kathy Stewart said.
Read More: Dallas to phase out most alley trash collection – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth