Leaf removal in Akron’s wards will begin on Monday, Nov. 9, with some changes for residents from past years.  

  1. Leaves should be placed on the devil strip, not in the street. Keeping leaf piles out of the roadway helps keep streets and storm drains clear while crews move through the neighborhoods.
  • The city will no longer share set start dates for individual wards. Instead, the city will post signs in each ward about 48 hours before leaf removal is expected to begin there. 

Each ward will take several days to be completed. Residents can rake their leaves onto the devil strip in advance of the signs going up and at any time ahead of their collection times.

In a news release, the city said the changes will allow leaf-removal crews to “work more efficiently, cut down on repeated changes or delays to the schedule, and keep piles of leaves out of streets where they can impede traffic.”

Residents are encouraged to use the city’s leaf dashboard/tracker and posted signs for the most current information. The tracker includes a map showing which streets have been completed and where crews are working. 

The order for the leaf removal is:  Ward 5, Ward 3,  Ward 9,  Ward 7,  Ward 6, Ward 4, Ward 8,  Ward 1, Ward 2, Ward 10.

Other guidelines for leaf season include: 

  • Do not mix branches, sticks or other yard debris into leaf piles.
  • Do not park vehicles on or immediately adjacent to leaf piles where they could prevent crews from safely collecting leaves.
  • Do not allow children to play in leaf piles on or near the street.
  • Do not bag leaves for regular leaf collection.

If you still have leaves after your street has been collected, you can bag your leaves and schedule a bulk pickup by contacting 311. You can also rake additional leaves onto the devil strip and contact 311 to request a leaf pickup. 

Residents can call 311, go online to AkronOhio.gov/311, or download the Akron 311 app to submit a request. 

Crews will not begin responding to additional leaf pickup requests until the scheduled collection has been completed in all 10 wards.

Editor-in-Chief (she/her)
Zake has deep roots in Northeast Ohio journalism. She was the managing editor for multimedia and special projects at the Akron Beacon Journal, where she began work as a staff photographer in 1986. Over a 20-year career, Zake worked in a variety of roles across departments that all help inform her current role as Signal Akron's editor in chief. Most recently, she was a journalism professor and student media adviser at Kent State University, where she worked with the next generation of journalists to understand public policy, environmental reporting, data and solutions reporting. Among her accomplishments was the launch of the Kent State NewsLab, an experiential and collaborative news commons that connects student reporters with outside professional partners.