As trees’ fall color show fades, the raking begins for residents

WASHINGTON - Piles of leaves line the streets of Washington as the bright colors of autumn turn to a continuous shower of browning leaves.

Those leaves cover yards and need to be raked. Residents had beautiful weather with temperatures in the 70s this weekend. Their hard work showed up in the piles waiting to be vacuumed up by the city.

The Washington Maintenance and Construction Department started the leaf vac program Oct. 19 and has been busy since.

At 7 a.m. on Monday, the team started in the northwest corner of Washington.

By 1 p.m. the crew had covered three roads and picked up eight loads.

Travis Moore lives on North Marion Avenue and started raking up an additional pile after the leaf vac took his first pile. With two pin oak trees, he has to rake leaves multiple times a year.

The program runs until Nov. 25. Residents are asked to place leaves in the terrace between the sidewalk and street. Leaves should not be placed on the road.