As leaves begin to fall to the ground around the region, the city of Bowling Green is getting ready to start its annual leaf pickup program.

Starting Monday, city residents can call the city’s leaf pickup hotline at 270-393-3333 and request curbside leaf collection at their home. Citywide leaf pickups by zone begin Oct. 31.

The individual home pickup program is an opportunity to “get the trucks out and start testing our equipment,” said city Public Information Officer Kim Lancaster. The city cannot guarantee that it will be able to fulfill every request before zone pickups begin, Lancaster said.

The city is divided into 10 leaf pickup zones. Residents can see what zone they are in by going to the city’s leaf collection webpage (www.bgky.org/publicworks/leafpickup) and entering their street.

This year, the leaf pickups will begin with zone 9. 

“We switch starting zones each year to be fair,” Lancaster said.

The city is asking that leaves be raked to curbside two days before the scheduled pickup, and – most importantly – that residents keep raked leaves off sidewalks and roadways for safety reasons.

“That’s the biggest problem we encounter,” Lancaster said. 

Leaves piled in the roadway are a safety concern because motorists may have to swerve to avoid leaf piles, and because crews may have to be further out in traffic to collect the leaves.

Leaves piled on roadways can also clog stormwater drains.

“We’re also asking people not to put debris such as limbs or pumpkins in the leaf piles,” as they can clog the machinery, Lancaster said.

Each zone will receive service for two consecutive business days. If a zone is not completed within that period, the leaf crews will move into the next scheduled zone and backtrack to complete the incomplete zones as time permits, according to the city’s leaf pickup webpage. If the city intentionally does not pick up a resident’s leaves, crews will place an orange door hanger on the resident’s door explaining the reason why, along with a contact number.

Scott Waste Management will pick up bagged leaves on regular garbage pickup days.

As in years past, the leaves collected by the city will be taken to the Western Kentucky University Farm to make mulch, which is then sold to the public through mid-November.

Small pickup loads of the mulch are $30 and large pickup loads are $45. The city gets 25 percent of the revenue from mulch sales and the WKU Agriculture Department retains 75 percent.  

— Follow city government reporter Wes Swietek on Twitter @BGDNgovtbeat or visit bgdailynews.com.