The massive piles of tree branches and logs that have lined Erie streets since a powerful storm hit just before Labor Day weekend are finally starting to disappear.
Crews with the City of Erie Public Works Department have begun a neighborhood-by-neighborhood effort to collect storm debris piled in front of homes.
On Monday, crews worked from West 12th Street north to the Bayfront, between Weschler and State streets, and on the city’s east side from State Street to East Avenue.
It’s a major cleanup effort, with city crews going street by street and pile by pile to collect branches and sections of trees knocked down during the storm.
For homeowners, clearing the debris has also been a major undertaking.
West Sixth Street resident Bob Schell said he has been working on the cleanup since the storm.
“We were fortunate it wasn’t as bad as our neighbors or on Fifth Street,” Schell said. “I just brought the last load out for the crews to pick up.”
Schell said he understands the scope of the job facing city crews.
“It was a lot of devastation,” he said.
The debris collected by city crews is being hauled to the city’s composting site near the wastewater treatment plant.
Truckload after truckload of branches and logs are being dumped at the site, creating a massive pile that illustrates the extent of the storm’s impact across Erie.
The material is then fed into a chipper and turned into wood chips.
While the cleanup is underway, some of the largest remnants of fallen trees are still waiting to be addressed.
The city has not yet begun removing the massive tree stumps left behind by trees that were knocked down in the storm.
The city administration plans to seek Erie City Council approval this week to hire a contractor to grind down the stumps as a separate part of the cleanup effort.
For residents still waiting for debris in front of their homes to be collected, city officials are asking for patience as crews continue working through the neighborhoods.
The city has posted a schedule showing which neighborhoods crews will work in next. Residents can check for updates by clicking here.