Arboretum Neighborhood Association

I have a question about street signs / street lights / traffic signals / pedestrian crosswalk buttons / crosswalk painting / speed bumps / curb painting, etc.

This work is performed by the Traffic Engineering Division. 

You can reach out to them directly at traffic@cityofmadison.com.

My trash/recycling was not picked up.
Please send an email to streets@cityofmadison.com or report the missed pick up using this form: https://www.cityofmadison.com/reportaproblem/collection.cfm?mode=1

Please keep the cart at the curb. Crews will attempt to work back to collect the stop as soon as possible.

Keep in mind, carts should be out for pickup by 6:30am.

My neighbors have had large items out for weeks! What do I do?

Contact the Building Inspection department at 608-266-4551 or email them at bldginspect@cityofmadison.com.  They can issue orders to be sure the property owner takes the right steps to have these items picked up.

When will the brush in front of my house be collected?
Get the dates when you should set out brush at www.cityofmadison.com/BrushCollection.

Brush collection season usually runs from April until late September.

Take brush to a drop-off site. Drop-off site hours and restrictions can be found at www.cityofmadison.com/DropOffSites.

When will my leaves and yard waste be collected?

Get the dates when you should set out yard waste at www.cityofmadison.com/YardWaste.

Yard waste collection occurs in the spring and then again in the fall.  There is no yard waste pickup during the summer months.

You can also use the drop-off sites. Drop-off site hours and restrictions can be found at www.cityofmadison.com/DropOffSites.

The form for yard waste pickup / brush pickup / report-a-problem doesn’t recognize my address. What do I do?

The most common issue is that you put too much information in the “Street Name” field.

The best way to describe it is to use an example.  Let’s say you live on Miller Ave.  Where it says “Street Name” you only type “Miller.”    You put “Ave” in the “Street Type” field.

Some Madison streets do not follow normal naming conventions, so the form can be tricky. 

There’s debris/glass in the road/bike path.  Please clean it up.

Please contact the Streets department at streets@cityofmadison.com. They will dispatch the appropriate equipment as soon as they can.

I need to cancel my large item order. What do I do?

In order to get your large items collected, you initially need to fill out a work order form.  The form is available at www.cityofmadison.com/LargeItemWorkOrder.

The reminder email and confirmation email from the Streets Department should provide you to a link where you can cancel it yourself.

The Streets Department also has the ability to cancel the work orders internally.

For them to look it up, they need at least one of the following pieces of information to find your order and cancel it:

·        The work order number. It begins STLI followed by a series of numbers. 

·        Your address

·        The email address used to make the order

If you already provided this information in your message to Streets to cancel the order – great! They will take it from here and cancel your work order as requested.

If you did not provide that above information, please send Streets another message at streets@cityofmadison.com with that extra information so they can cancel it for you.

I need to add items / subtract items from my work order.  What do I do?

Please send a message to the Streets department at streets@cityofmadison.com.

If the email sent to Streets contained the items you would like to add, they can amend your work order most of the time if the request comes in before the Friday prior to the set-out Sunday you selected in the work order.

Some situations are complicated, though.  Streets will follow up with you if they need more information or if there are additional questions.

Why was my large item not picked up on the Sunday I chose on the large item collection work order?

The date you chose was when you set out the item for pick up.

Collection will occur during the standard Monday to Friday work week following the date you picked.

You need to have the items out on Sunday because crews could be at your home first thing Monday morning to collect what is out.

If you wait, you will miss your chance.

Crews will not come back for items set out late.

Why wasn’t I mailed a sticker for my curbside large item pickup?

Stickers are not necessary for curbside collection of items that require a fee.  You just have to set it out on the date you selected.

Stickers are still required for items coming to the drop-off site that require a fee.  If you chose to have the item dropped off, you will receive a fee sticker in the mail at the address you provided in the work order form.

Can I get a refund for the large item work order?

It depends.

We are not offering refunds for curbside collection fees. When you submit the work order, you click to a box to agree that the curbside fee will not be refunded.

If you opted to take the item to a drop-off site and received fee stickers in the mail, we will refund those if you return the stickers unused to our offices.

I have neighbors who are illegally blowing their leaves into the street.  What should I do about it?

Contact the Building Inspection department at 608-266-4551 or email them at bldginspect@cityofmadison.com.  They can issue orders to be sure the property owner cleans up the mess they have made.

I reported a pothole. When will you fix it?

The Streets Department will respond as soon as we can.

Potholes are not as simple as they appear as there are many possible people who may be responsible for the repair.

For example, if the hole is on private property, like a private road or parking lot, then the property owner must maintain it.  If the bump is from a water main break repair that’s sinking, the water utility fixes it. If a hole is forming near a railroad track, the rail company fixes it. Sinkholes are fixed by the Engineering Division. And other situations can be in play as well.

You did the right thing reporting the pothole to the Streets Department and they will refer it to the correct partner agency if necessary, or fix it ourselves if it’s the Streets Division’s to repair.

I have a question about/problem with the tree near the road in front of my house.

Questions regarding trees within the city right-of-way along the road should be sent to the Streets Division’s Urban Forestry Section for a response. Their email is forestry@cityofmadison.com.

I have a problem with a tree on my private property. Can Urban Forestry people help with that?

No. Urban Forestry can only maintain trees on public property. For your private trees, we recommend acquiring the services of a certified arborist: https://www.waa-isa.org/find-certified-arborist/

I have a question / problem about the storm drain near my house.

The Engineering Division handles these situations. They can be reached at engineering@cityofmadison.com.

I have a question about the sidewalk in front of my home.

City Engineering repairs and maintains sidewalks.

You can reach out to them directly at engineering@cityofmadison.com.

There’s a dead animal in the road.  Help!

City Engineering collects these animals.

You can reach out to them directly at engineering@cityofmadison.com.

There is a tree down blocking my road and it is after normal operating hours.

If you are reporting a tree emergency after 3:00pm Monday to Friday or during the weekend, you should also call the Dane County Non-Emergency Dispatch for a faster response. The number is 608-255-2345.

Urban Forestry has on-call staff that the Dane County dispatch operators will contact to respond to tree emergencies at all hours.