Street sweeping has been part of the City’s street maintenance program for many years. Until recently, streets have been swept on a regular, but unpublicized, schedule. Sweeping is accomplished with the use of two regenerative air sweepers owned and operated by the City. Regenerative air sweepers are considered one of the quietest sweeper models available. One sweeper operates on a graveyard shift, five days a week, focusing on the Central Business District and Fairhaven to maximize the effectiveness of sweeping when traffic and parked cars are at a minimum. Some arterial streets are also cleaned during this time. The second sweeper is primarily used during a five-day-a-week day shift and focuses on residential streets in the remaining districts and neighborhoods throughout the city. Additional information about areas swept during evening and daytime hours is outlined in the “Other Schedules” section below.
As
our community has grown, and especially with the increase of residential
units downtown, the number of cars left overnight on streets has increased
significantly. Street sweeping is not effective when sweepers cannot access
whole sections of street. As a solution, a scheduled street sweeping program
was implemented in the Downtown and Central Business Districts in the summer
of 2007. Permanent “NO Parking 2AM – 6AM” signs are posted on all streets in
the sweeping zone. People are asked not to park on streets during sweeping
hours.
A scheduled sweeping program for the Downtown and Central Business Districts went into effect July 1, 2007. All other districts and neighborhoods will continue to be maintained at their regularly scheduled intervals and as time permits.
Evening Sweeping:
Evening sweeping targets the Central Business District (CBD), Fairhaven,
arterials, and bike routes. Click on the link below to view a typical 4-week
evening street sweeping schedule that shows what areas and street types are
targeted in any given month for regular sweeping.
Daytime Sweeping:
Daytime sweeping targets all other areas not swept during the evening shift.
Those areas are broken out into
neighborhood areas numbered 1 through 23. Starting with area 1, the
daytime street sweeper works through each neighborhood, in order, until all
23 have been completed. The daytime street sweeper also responds to
emergency clean-ups as needed. Neighborhood residential streets are swept a
minimum of twice per year, with a typical cycle of three times a year
beginning on or about March 1st and October 15th.
Street sweeping is an important part of street maintenance. In addition to improving the appearance of our community, sweeping streets provides a number of environmental benefits, including:
Street Unit Supervisor
Public Works Operations
Public Works Department
