AUSTIN, Texas — The City of Austin is projecting the cleanup timeline following February's ice storm will last until April.
In an update from Austin Resource Recovery (ARR), the City said it collected more tree debris in just one week of collection than the entire tonnage weighed from the 2021 winter storm.
ARR estimated that with the help of over 70 staff and contracted crews, the first several passes of storm debris pick-up would be complete by the first week of March. Several areas throughout Austin will need a second or third pass-through to collect debris, which will be completed by April 30.
In an update on March 21, ARR said it has begun the second pass-through and it will be completed "later this week." After the second pass-through, crews will begin the final citywide pass-through, which is projected to be completed by the end of April.
After the initial pass-throughs, ARR will shift the citywide clean-up efforts to only taking "special storm debris collection requests" made through 311. This will begin starting April 30 and last until June 30.
As of Feb. 16, over 34,828 tons of storm debris had been collected by almost 5,000 truckloads throughout the city. Storm debris collection routes are based on volume of service requests, which can be made through 311, but ARR has said it will collect all storm debris on the same street regardless if that specific house submitted a request or not at this time.
Over 166,000 tons of debris have been collected in more than 23,000 truckloads, according to the March ARR update. All existing 311 service requests will be closed at the end of March before the final pass-through.
"I want to thank our customers for their patience," ARR Director Ken Snipes said. "There has been an incredible amount of tree limbs and branches to collect across the city, over 1.3 million cubic yards worth. This includes four routes covering northwest and southwest Austin where crews have picked up over 100,000 cubic yards of debris on each route already.”
The caveat to the storm debris clean-up is that ARR will only collect if residents are ARR curbside customers. Curbside customers include single-family homes, duplexes and four-plexes in Austin, and residents are encouraged to check on ARR's website. If their address does not show up on the website, the name of the "hauler," or collector, will be on the resident's trash and recycling carts.
Even if residents are not customers of ARR, Austin and Travis County residents are also able to drop-off their storm debris at Austin Water's Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant, located at 2210 FM 973. The types of debris they will accept include large tree limbs, small and large branches, shrubs and leaves.
Some City parks are being used as a temporary storage area for ARR contractors to clear large tree limbs and branches from neighborhoods. The parks being used include Circle C Ranch Metro Park, Bolm District Park and Old Manor Road.
Residents are not allowed to bring their storm debris, as they are being used to speed up storm debris collection and require credentials to drop-off debris. The debris from neighborhoods that is dropped off at these parks is being turned into mulch and later taken to the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant to be turned into Dillo Dirt.
Once storm clean-up is complete, the parks being used will returned to their normal composure.