Deadline approaching to place large Fiona debris at curb

P.E.I. residents are still cleaning up their yards a month after post-tropical storm Fiona. 

But the pickup is winding down.

Oct. 31 is the last day to put larger pieces of debris by the curb and have the province take them away. 

The province said it wants to make sure all the debris is off the road before the first snowfall because the large piles could damage plows and be dangerous for drivers. 

Steve Szwarc, the province's director of highway maintenance, said the cleanup will spill into next year.

"There's more debris coming to the roads. Still lots of trees to cut down, more roads to widen back so it's going to be busy until it snows and it'll be busy next spring when we start up again."

Even though the deadline to have material at the roadside is Monday, it will take a couple of weeks to pick everything up outside Charlottetown and Summerside. 

If the debris is not on the curb by Monday, residents will be responsible for taking care of it themselves.

The provincial debris drop-off sites will be open until it snows, and Island Waste Management is waving fees at its sites until Nov. 5, said CEO Karen MacDonald. 

"Every day all day we've had cars lined up coming in to dispose of debris so it's been a really busy time," she said.

"Since the 29th of September, we've received about 6,000 tons of waste and that would compare to normally about 2,000 so about three times as much."

The regular fall cleanup collection will begin Nov. 7. Smaller pieces of debris, such as branches and twigs, need to be tied up, weigh less than 50 pounds and be under four feet.

"Those trucks require the driver to manually load, so that's why we have those rules in place because we need to ensure drivers are safe when they're doing their job," MacDonald said.

City crews in Summerside and Charlottetown are also winding down their curbside pickups.