Alley & Street Clearance Trimming in Lubbock, TX

Alley and street clearance trimming in Lubbock is a narrow job with a clear target. City of Lubbock Code Section 36.01.005 makes the owner, tenant or lessee of a property responsible for trimming tree limbs that overhang the public right-of-way, and it sets the numbers: at least 12 feet of clearance above streets and alleys used by vehicles, and at least 8 feet above sidewalks. Trees and plantings in the right-of-way also must not block traffic or a driver's view of signs and signals.

Why alleys matter so much here

Much of Lubbock is built on a grid with paved alleys behind the houses, and the alley does a lot of work. City trash trucks reach the shared dumpsters from there, the overhead power and service lines often run along it, and on many lots it is the only way to get a vehicle into the back. Trees along back fences, often elms or other volunteers that grew up untended, push limbs out over the alley until trucks drag through them. Low limbs get torn off by trucks, leaving ragged wounds that invite decay, and branches over the dumpsters make it hard for the trucks to lift them.

What the city can do

The code treats violations of the right-of-way rules as a nuisance that can be abated, and it keeps the city's right to remove a right-of-way obstruction without notice. The city's development code also lets the Director of Code Enforcement require removal of trees in or over the right-of-way that create a hazard. Most homeowners never get that far, but a code notice about an alley tree is a common reason people call us.

How we raise a canopy properly

Raising a canopy, sometimes called crown raising or limbing up, removes the lowest limbs or shortens them back to side branches that grow upward. Done right, it follows ANSI A300 practice: cuts just outside the branch collar, no stubs, and no stripping the trunk bare. We try not to remove more than the tree can spare in one visit. On a young tree, we may raise it in stages over a couple of seasons so it keeps enough leaves low on the trunk to build girth. On an old tree with a big limb at 10 feet over the alley, shortening the limb to a higher side branch is often better than taking it off at the trunk.

Lines and boundaries

If the limbs over the alley are in or near the primary power lines, those are for the utility. Lubbock Power and Light says only authorized professionals may prune within ten feet of high-voltage lines, and its trimming contractor follows ANSI standards. Report those at 806-775-2509. The service drop from the pole to your house is a different matter, and we can usually clear limbs around it carefully. We also stay on your side: limbs from a neighbor's tree are the neighbor's to deal with, though in practice many neighbors split the cost of one visit.