Street sweepers start to clean winter sand and debris from the streets as soon as weather permits in the spring. Two full cycles are completed in the spring and one in the fall. Starting April 1, the City’s five sweepers may operate 16 hours per day, Monday through Friday, midnight to 4:00p.m., until all streets have been cleaned. The continuation of the alternate side parking ordinance until May 1 helps in this spring clean-up task.

For spring cleanup, the main arterial streets and commercial districts are swept first. The rest of the city is divided into four areas, and the order of sweeping is rotated every spring. The first neighborhood this year will be the second next year, the second neighborhood will be the third, and so forth. The schedule for 2010 is as follows:  1) South, 2) West, 3) North, and 4) East Side, including Third Ward.  Fall clean-up is performed to prevent leaves from plugging storm inlets and storm sewers and normally begins at the end of September. A second shift may be added for the month of October when the volume of leaves is at its highest.

Besides the spring and fall clean-up operations, street sweepers sweep the entire city two full cycles during the summer.  Additionally, there are watershed areas within the city that are swept more frequently to meet DNR requirements.