BATON ROUGE - City-Parish officials are suspending curbside recycling services from April 26 through May 1, and services are set to resume on Monday, May 3.

According to a Friday, April 24 news release from the office of Mayor-Presidnet Sharon Weston Broome, the purpose of the weeklong suspension is "to fully allocate all available garbage and recycling resources toward addressing curbside trash and debris collection."

The notice went on the state that, "In recent weeks, recurring storms and heavy wind events have combined with the increased volume of trees and limbs resulting from Spring yard work and residual debris from the winter storm event to generate a significant increase of out-of-cart vegetative debris."

"Due to this increased volume of debris, trucks have only been able to complete 50 – 60 percent of bulky collection routes, necessitating the additional resources typically used for curbside recycling collection."

Officials say residents do not need to report the location of their debris or trash piles, as crews will collect them along their normal routes with the expanded equipment and resources.

Locals are encouraged to report other issues or request services by calling 311, downloading the free Red Stick 311 app on Apple or Android devices, or by visiting 311.brla.gov.