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Fewer Dallas homes are expected to lose alley trash pickup after residents and city council members pushed back on plans from the city’s sanitation department.
On Friday, the city released a memo from Sanitation Director Cliff Gilespie detailing the reduced scale of the transition to curbside service. Up to 7,500 addresses are expected to lose alley trash collection, down from the 26,000 households initially expected to lose it. The department also plans to change the way it bills residents, according to the memo.
Dallas has been wrestling with the issue of alley pickup since 2024, when the sanitation department originally proposed transitioning up to 96,000 addresses — roughly the total number of alley customers in city limits — as workers reported safety concerns in narrow alleyways and newer, larger equipment struggled to operate. The plans were eventually scrapped, and a scaled-back initiative to transition 26,000 customers was also put on hold in October after significant pushback from residents and the council.
At a February council meeting, Gillespie outlined alternatives that would transition anywhere from 5,000 to 26,000 addresses, although the option of keeping the service across the board was also discussed.
In the review outlined in Friday’s memo, only 7,500 homes are currently under consideration for transition to curbside service. Homes under review are those with alleys that dead-end, have deteriorated pavement or present significant obstacles to trucks during collection. Staff will meet with council members to refine the total and explain the selection process, with final plans expected to be released in mid-June. Those customers would then transition in February 2027, according to the memo.
Gillespie has frequently cited the dangers posed by alley service, especially in alleys nine feet wide or less, as the primary motivation for the push. At the February council meeting, he told council members that utility poles, wires and other obstructions created barriers for workers, some of whom had been pinned and run over in the alleys. Alley pickup locations accounted for 58% of sanitation damage reports in Dallas, he said, despite making up 37% of the department’s overall residential service portfolio.
Some residents have placed the blame on the city, which they say bought newer equipment knowing it would struggle in narrower alleys. The department will conduct research and development on “non-standard and emerging equipment, technology, service delivery models, and operational practices” to inform future discussions of alley pickup, the memo states.
Resident opposition has manifested itself in a protest at City Hall and a petition with over 13,000 signatures to keep the service. Residents say they bought their homes with the service in mind, while some have raised concerns for elderly customers who would have to carry their bins to the curb. In a survey released by the department in February, 93% of the more than 10,000 households surveyed strongly favored continued alley collection. Residents also signaled a willingness to add to their bills to continue the service, with 60% saying they would pay some additional amount to keep their collection.
According to the memo, the department is developing a tiered rate structure under which customers would pay based on the labor required to collect their trash. Customers who receive alley pickup, for example, a relatively more expensive service for the department to provide, would pay more than those receiving curbside service.
While Gillespie does not need council approval to transition customers to curbside service, the tiered rate structure would need to be included in staff recommendations for the upcoming fiscal year budget, which will be considered by the full council as part of the budgeting process in late summer and early fall.
