Leaf pick up resumes in South Bend after weather postpones service for months

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — After month of heavy snow fall, freezing temperatures and even severe weather, The City of South Bend can pick back up where they left off picking up fall leaves.

Locals are eagerly waiting for the City to get to their zone to clean leaves off the street. The service was cut short in November.

"It's been a long time coming. They were supposed to have taken care of this last fall," said Peggy Swihart.

This is what many homeowners in South Bend have been saying since November when the City suspended leaf pick up.

Jitin Kain, Deputy Director of Public Works, says the City had no choice but to suspend the service at that time.

"It started to snow quite early in the leaf season, and the same crews that pick-up leaves are the crews that are also snow plowing," said Kain.

Kain shared there wasn't much of a break in the weather, and it takes hours to get the 20-30 trucks ready to clear the streets.

"The same equipment is used for snow plowing, so we have to convert all the leaf pickup equipment into snowplows and plow the streets. So, it's hard for us to go back and forth, because it does take time to do that," he explained.

The crews picked back up in Zone Seven Monday.

Zone Seven covers part of the south side of South Bend and the Morris Park area. Kain says they plan to finish leaf pick-up by the end of April.

South Bend has a live map showing where crews are picking up leaves which you can find here.

Below is the leaf pick-up schedule the City released:

• Zone One: April 1

• Zone Two: April 3

• Zone Three: April 7

• Zone Four: April 9

• Zone Five: April 13

• Zone Six: April 15

• Zone Seven: March 23 and April 17

• Zone Eight: March 25 and April 21

• Zone Nine: March 30 and April 23

Residents can place leaves in their yard's waste bin, but that pickup doesn't start until March 30. You can also put leaves in 30-gallon biodegradable bags and request an extra yard waste pickup. You can put 10 bags out for free pickup. All dates are weather permitting and subject to change.