City of Duluth Announces New Debris Plan

Deadline for debris pick up is August 27

The City of Duluth has announced a new plan of attack for their curbside storm debris pickup, as well as the debris drop off site.

In order to protect the public’s health and safety, residents can continue to place their storm-related tree debris on their front lawns for City workers to pick up. The deadline for pickup is Saturday, August 27. Any debris placed curbside after this date will NOT be picked up by City workers.

The City plans to have curbside pickup completed by the end of the day on August 28.

Director of Public Administration for the City of Duluth said, “We ask the public to continue what they’ve been doing so well, helping each other be good neighbors, placing only bona fide storm related debris at the curbside, being patient with us as we work as quickly as we can to get that work completed.”

A large crew will begin in Upper Woodland and work down the hill. Another will begin in Lester Park and work south.

Residents will still have access to the Rice Lake Road drop off until Saturday, September 3.

The material accumulating at the drop site will be ground down and transported to Minnesota power’s Hibbard Renewable Energy Center, in West Duluth, to generate electricity.

On Monday, the City Council will be asked to approve a resolution with a contractor to grind and transport around 45,000 cubic yards of tree material.

Any property owners needing assistance with debris clean up are encouraged to call the Head of the Lakes United Way on a landline at 2-1-1 or by mobile device at 1-800-543-7709.

As for clearing of parks and trails, City Park Maintenance crews are clearing and removing downed trees. The City Council will be asked on Monday to approve a resolution with a contractor for the clean up of tree and wood debris from affected Nordic ski trails, snowmobile trails, and Old Hartley Road. The City aims to complete this clean up by November 1st.

The Superior Hiking Trail Association has announced that their crews have cleared nearly 450 downed tress from the trail between Bagley Nature Area through Harley Park to the Normanna Road trailhead.

Crews from Cyclists of Gitchee Gumee Shores have started clearing the multipurpose trails that they regularly maintain in Hartley Park. The expect their crews to clear and reopen the system within two to three weeks.

The City does not currently have a timeline for debris clean up in the park.

Check local conditions and look for signage, and for safety reasons, do not venture on to closed trails.