Leaves from the trees that give Oak Bay its name are now falling, and municipal crews have readied the leaf vacuuming equipment for the campaign which will begin soon to clear them from streets and gutters all over the Municipality.  The leaf clearing program begins in late October and will continue until all leaves are collected rather than on a pre-determined street by street schedule. 

The reason for this annual blitz is to prevent catch basins and storm drains from becoming clogged to the point where they cannot cope with the runoff from a moderate to heavy rainfall.

It takes quite a while to cover the entire Municipality, however, and the more leaves there are on the street at any one time, the more likely it is that problems will occur before our crews can get to the area.

We can handle the leaves deposited on the street by the normal forces of nature.  We run into difficulty, however, when residents rake leaves onto the street from their own properties in anticipation of the arrival of our vacuum, or leave other garden refuse or tree prunings on the boulevard expecting it to be picked up with the leaves.  Piles of leaves on the roads also create safety hazards for cyclists.

DO NOT RAKE LEAVES ONTO THE STREET!

• Please do not place leaves in plastic bags as they get caught in the vacuum!
• In the interest of pedestrian safety, please do not place leaves on the sidewalk.

"LEAVES ON STREET = BLOCKED CATCH BASINS = FLOODED BASEMENTS"