Dozens of Dallas residents urged city leaders on Oct. 22 to preserve alley trash pickup after the sanitation department put a planned switch to curbside collection on hold.

Speakers at the city’s open-microphone period said the proposed change — which the sanitation department had scheduled for January 2026 before pausing implementation — would force homeowners in neighborhoods designed for alley service to spend money and alter their property to accommodate curbside cans.

The Keep Alley Trash Neighborhood Coalition told the council it represents thousands of residents across 14 districts and said more than 11,000 people have signed a petition opposing the change. Bradley Williams, who identified himself as representing the coalition, said the change would affect neighborhoods built in the 1950s–1970s that include alleys for trash, utilities and drainage. He said the city’s financial rationale for the switch was not transparent and that neighboring cities pay less for service.

Other speakers pressed the council to form a joint resident-city task force and to consider outsourcing options. Bruce Orr and Jim Collett, both of whom identified themselves as neighborhood residents and coalition members, urged the council to give residents “a seat at the table” and to invest in consistent, dedicated alley maintenance rather than forcing homeowners to reconfigure property.

Several speakers also disputed the sanitation department’s public cost figures. Collett cited department budget numbers presented to council staff and questioned a claimed future monthly rate range of $69–$80, saying the department’s enterprise fund showed a surplus and a multi-million-dollar fund balance that, in his view, could cover alley maintenance.

A sanitation employee who spoke during open mic described an on-the-job injury and concerns about workplace handling of the incident; that speaker urged the council to address staff and workplace safety alongside service decisions.

Council did not take a vote on alley-service policy during the meeting. Council did, earlier in the meeting, vote to allow additional Dallas speakers after the first five registered speakers, which enabled many of the alley comments to be heard.

The sanitation department has paused the implementation plan and said it would conduct additional outreach and surveys; residents at the podium urged the city to use that pause to develop a transparent, collaborative maintenance-and-service plan rather than a unilateral change.

Evidence in the meeting shows broad neighborhood opposition, requests for more complete financial disclosure from the sanitation department, and repeated resident requests for a formal role in any decisions that change long-standing alley service.