Norfolk reduces street sweeping operations due to repair delays
Of the city’s 14 cleaning machines, only 2 are operable
Some Norfolk neighborhoods may notice less frequent street sweeping operations due to several challenges the department is facing.
According to a March 1 notice, most streets will be temporarily placed on a quarterly rotation — instead of monthly — until equipment challenges can be addressed. Areas with enforcement signs will continue to be swept once a month.
“The City of Norfolk prides itself in having the most robust street sweeping program in Hampton Roads,” the notice reads. “Even with the challenges we are facing, the program continues to far exceed any others in the Hampton Roads area. We do encourage residents to support the efforts by keeping the curb adjacent to their property clean in-between sweeping services.”
June Whitehurst, the city’s assistant stormwater engineer, said a multitude of challenges caused the reduction in street sweeping services, including maintenance repairs. Norfolk has a fleet of 14 street sweepers, but only two were operable as of Wednesday. Whitehurst said during
the pandemic, parts for the machines were difficult to get, causing delays. Paired with a shortage in mechanics, repairing the trucks became even more difficult.
“We have been working with our contractor to try to get the sweepers up and running as fast as we can, but unfortunately a lot of times we get one back and two go down,” Whitehurst said. “We’ve just had a tremendous problem keeping the sweepers working.”
Street sweeping keeps trash, debris and dirt out of storm drains. Left unchecked, it flows down the curbline into the drains, potentially clogging storm sewers and causing flooding. Debris also could end up in local waterways.
Virginia Beach had gone
nearly two years without street cleaning services after the company contracted to do the job went bankrupt in 2021, and operations in the resort city finally resumed in February.
Whitehurst said Norfolk’s main reason for reducing the frequency is to better service and convenience residents. Before the cuts, residents would move their vehicles — expecting a street sweeper to roll through. But the truck would never show, prompting complaints. Because of the ongoing equipment issues, sweepers were only able to complete about 30% of their routes.
Reducing the routes to quarterly means the sweeping could be more consistent, Whitehurst said.
Whitehurst said the department is aiming for the change to be temporary. Residents can check the city’s website for the complete list of when each neighborhood should expect sweeping.
“What we’ve done was prioritize the neighborhoods, where we will make sure that they are our highest priority once every three months,” she said. “And then when we get those neighborhoods done that particular month, we’ll go into the other neighborhoods. If we were having equipment issues, that would give us time also to really have the operators have some equipment downtime where they can actually focus on doing the preventative maintenance.”