Richmond Public Works outlines operations, illegal-dumping crackdown and tree-plan timeline

The Richmond Department of Public Works told the Government Operations Committee on Oct. 1 that its operations and maintenance division manages core services across urban forestry, street cleaning, grounds and roadway maintenance, solid waste and streetlight systems while responding to several open audit recommendations.

DPW Deputy Director Terrence Robinson and Director Bobby Vincent presented staffing, workload and program details and answered committee questions about illegal dumping, tree canopy work and audit follow‑ups. Robinson said operations and maintenance includes six major divisions, roughly 382 full‑time equivalents and 30 funded vacancies. He described divisions that maintain more than 76,000 occupied tree sites (roughly 120,000 total tree sites), 5,000 lane miles swept annually, about 80 miles of bike lanes today that the department expects to grow to more than 100 miles of separated lanes by 2028, and grounds maintenance that covers roughly 3,000 acres across…