The city will pause its plan to eliminate alley trash pickup.
After weeks of pleading from homeowners, the City of Dallas has changed course on its plan to eliminate alley garbage pickup. District 10 Council member Kathy Stewart announced the change in her weekly newsletter to constituents Friday.
“Interim City Manager, Kim Tolbert, has paused the Sanitation Department’s initiative to move all trash pickup to the curb,” Stewart wrote. “Along with several other council members, I expressed serious concern over the plan explaining the negative impact on our neighborhood. Ms. Tolbert agreed to postpone moving forward until there is significant community engagement and most importantly, serious evaluation of the viability of the plan in our neighborhoods. We will keep you updated on meetings. We do not expect the beginning of any implementation until late 2025/early 2026. The only exception are individual alleys that are flagged by Sanitation as having significant impediments or hazards for the trucks and personnel.”
Sanitation Director Clifton Gillespie, who proposed the plan in June, touted curbside service as more cost-effective for the city, since larger automated trucks can make fewer trips and use fewer employees. Curbside is safer, too, for workers who ride on the back of garbage trucks, since many Dallas alleys have become rutted and broken from heavy use and disrepair.
Neighbors protested that making the change would be cumbersome — especially for older residents forced to push full bins across wet grass or up terraced lawns. City planners and developers have favored alley utility services for decades, and many homes and neighborhoods were designed for alley trash pickup.
Tolbert’s agreement to pause the switch will permit more study by sanitation department officials.
