In a memo to Dallas City Council members, Assistant City Manager Alina Ciocan explained that trying to widen alleys to more safely accommodate sanitation trucks may require inordinate effort.
“According to the Department of Public Works, widening an alleyway would involve a survey of the right-of-way width to determine if sufficient right-of-way exists for an expansion,” she wrote. “If the right-of-way width is not adequate, the City’s property acquisition process would require property owners to agree to dedicate right-of-way. This would potentially involve moving fences, accessory structures, and other impediments.”
Additionally, utilities, meters, and wires would have to be moved to widen 8-foot alleys to 9 feet.
“The alleyway surface would then be reconstructed at the new width,” Ciocan stated in the memo.
Ensuring the safety of sanitation workers and protecting the integrity of the city’s equipment are the crux of a proposal by Clifton Gillespie, director of the Department of Sanitation Services, to increase curbside collection while all but effectively ending alley pick-ups, The Dallas Express has reported.
“The varied conditions of alleyways, including surface and right-of-way width, curbs and embankments, structural encroachments, utility poles, and overhead lines and gas meters significantly affect our collection methods and the wear-and-tear on our equipment,” Gillespie told the city council in June.
Sanitation workers collect refuse and recyclables from 258,000 locations across Dallas each week. While 62% of these are curbside, 38% are alleys with widths generally between 8 and 10 feet. Since many of the city’s sanitation trucks are just over 8 feet wide, this presents a significant safety issue. Gillespie stressed this point to City leaders in a short video showing injuries to sanitation workers and damage to trucks during alley collections.
“The infrastructure challenges in our alleys’ narrow passages, inadequate space for carts, and a myriad of hazards are reflective of 20th century standards,” Gillespie said during the meeting.
“[They are] not designed for today’s solid waste management needs. Crews face daily risks from extreme weather, overhead utility lines, utility poles, gas meters, and unpredictable alley conditions, including ruts and other obstructions. These conditions have also caused fires resulting in total losses of trucks, injuries to personnel, and near misses for electrocution.”
Starting next year, sanitation collection from most residential alleys in Dallas could be phased out to minimize risk to workers and equipment and improve service delivery.
“The majority of the incidents … are related to fences or ruts in the alley,” Gillespie said. “So, we have our own what we call minor damage repair team that just essentially chases our trucks, repairing fences and ruts and replacing sod and those sorts of things. We put the dollar figure for those teams at around $580,000 a year.”
He added that over the last two years, the City of Dallas has filed 246 insurance claims totaling about $257,000.
“The majority of the incidents … are related to fences or ruts in the alley. So, we have our own what we call minor damage repair team that just essentially chases our trucks, repairing fences and ruts and replacing sod and those sorts of things. We put the dollar figure for those teams at around $580,000 a year.”
Gillespie also reported that the “vast majority” of more than 98,000 alley collection points are in North Dallas.
“Curbside collection is widely recognized as a best practice in residential solid waste management for several key reasons. First, it allows for the utilization of automated side-load trucks, which make up almost half of our fleet. These vehicles are operated by a single driver, which maximizes efficiency and minimizes labor costs. On average, a driver can service up to 233 locations per hour, depending on the density of the route, making this method not only efficient but also cost-effective.”
Alley collection requires a driver and two laborers, making it more dependent on workforce availability compared to curbside collection, which is more automated.
“This [automated] aspect is particularly advantageous during extreme weather conditions, ensuring consistent service when it’s most challenging for laborers to work,” Gillespie explained.
One of the city’s enterprise funds, the Department of Sanitation Services is a cost-recovery fund that operates on fees. Its budget for this fiscal year is about $154 million.
“When we tally these expenses, the automated trucks offer annual savings of millions in operating costs while also aligning with our modern best practices for efficiency and environmental friendliness,” Gillespie told the city council.
He added that a five-year review of Sanitation Services showed an average increase of approximately 7% each year, totaling a hike of 32.6% over the period to cover personnel, temporary labor, equipment costs, and contractor services.
In her memo, Ciocan said that alley reconstruction projects are funded through bond money. The 2024 bond package provides $17 million for that purpose.
“Sanitation Services engaged a consultant in May 2024 for a cost-of-service study to provide financial modeling, operational analysis, and benchmarking,” according to the memo. “A draft report is expected in August 2024 and final report in September 2024. At this time, the rate for all collections conducted from the curb is not available.”
However, each dollar received in residential sanitation fees generates about $3 million for the city.
“Eliminating the cost of temporary labor utilized for alley collection, and maintaining all other expenses constant, it is estimated that a $3 reduction could be expected, dropping the current rate from $37.98 to $34.98,” the memo shows.
Sanitation officials have proposed transitioning to curbside collection through a 12-month phase-out of 8-foot-wide alleys, an 18-month phase-out of 9-foot-wide alleys, and a 24-month phase-out of “all other alleys not safe or efficient to operate in.”
“Over the next few weeks, staff will work to complete a detailed analysis of the financial impacts of reducing or phasing out alleyway collection services,” Ciocan said in the memo. “The consulting firm will complete this study with its recommendations in September. Staff will update the City Council at the Quality of Life, Arts and Culture Committee and address council members’ questions later in the fall.”
Dallas residents in “a random sample” of 2,118 households recently participated in an annual community survey. They rated the delivery of some city services high but continued to flag sanitation, infrastructure, public safety, and homelessness as areas that need improvement, The Dallas Express reported.