Street sweepers set to go
ANNUAL CLEANUP BEGINS TODAY; RESIDENTS ASKED TO MOVE VEHICLES
Be a sweepheart and move your car when the City asks, won’t you? With the annual road sweeping program getting underway, residents are being asked to move their vehicles when requested for street sweeping in their neighbourhoods.
The annual program will see city sweepers on the street starting today, and keeping cars off streets targeted for cleaning is a big way for local residents to help City crews get the roads as clean as possible.
This year, street sweeping will begin in west Lethbridge neighbourhoods before moving south and then north.
The section of the city where sweeping starts rotates annually so every year, crews begin sweeping in a different area of the city.
“Residents in Lethbridge will notice ‘No Parking’ signs in their neighbourhood, before the street sweepers come through,” said the City’s Transportation Operations manager Lee Perkins.
Every year, portions of many streets go unswept because sweepers have to go around vehicles that have not been moved.
“It’s a tremendous help to the crew when you do remove your vehicle from the road,” said Perkins.
The parking ban will remain in effect from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. while the signs are out.
Sweeping will done on those streets the day the signs are posted, weather permitting.
“If it is raining, there’s a good chance (sweeping) will happen the next day,” said Perkins.
Residents will receive two advance notices. The first is a door hanger that will be delivered to each neighbourhood approximately a week before sweepers are scheduled to arrive.
The second will come the evening before sweepers arrive, when temporary “No Parking” signs will be posted in each scheduled neighbourhood and reminder cards will be placed on windshields of vehicles parked on the street.
Cars found on streets scheduled for cleaning after all the warnings and in spite of the “No Parking” signs could be subject to a $30-fine under the City’s Traffic Bylaw.
In addition, night crews will be sweeping arterial roads in nonresidential areas Monday to Friday between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Each spring, street sweeping crews clean thousands of tonnes of sand, dust and other debris from approximately 550 kilometres of roads in Lethbridge.
This helps to prevent that material from being washed into the Oldman River via the storm sewer system. It also reduces dust in neighbourhoods and makes streets safer for cycling, walking and driving.
This year, additional sand was used in response to the seemingly endless winter experienced in Lethbridge. But Perkins said nearly 75 per cent of that sand will be reclaimed and re-used.
Sand and debris picked up by street sweepers will be stored and cleaned, and the reconditioned sand is reused by mixing it into new sand for the following year’s sanding operation.
Residual waste material is disposed of in the landfill.
Street sweeping is scheduled so that it doesn’t conflict with garbage pickup.
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