SPRING STREET SWEEPING PROGRAM AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

SPRING STREET SWEEPING PROGRAM AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

City street sweeping crews are ahead of where they were at this time last year due to favourable weather, as well as the careful planning and increased experience of City crews. Curb-to-curb street sweeping in residential areas is currently 59 per cent complete as compared to 38 per cent complete at this time in 2014.

“Four weeks into the program, we’ve swept 31 neighbourhoods, all five Business Improvement Districts, and will be wrapping up along Circle Drive tonight,” said Eric Quail, Roadways Manager. “We’ve removed 435 tandem dump truckloads of debris. Last week alone, crews swept 1.6 million square meters of pavement or the equivalent of 198 football fields.”

For the second year in a row, curb-to-curb cleaning in school zones is occurring at night. School zones in Dundonald, Hudson Bay Park, Westview, Lawson Heights and Massey Place were swept Wednesday and Thursday nights, and crews will be in College Park East and Erindale on Monday night. When scheduled, the area will be clearly marked with bright yellow street sweeping sandwich boards identical to the daytime sweeping signs, but with an 8:00 p.m. starting time. To avoid the $100 fine and the inconvenience of locating a towed vehicle, vehicles in marked school zones must be off the street by 8:00 p.m. on the posted day.

“We’re putting the safety of students first by sweeping neighbourhood school zones outside of school hours,” continued Quail. “When we swept school zones during daytime hours, we found a lot of vehicles stopping in front of the school which leads to increased traffic congestion and reduced visibility. As well, younger children would gather near the street to watch crews at work.”

Overall, the City is seeing a slight dip in compliance for the street sweeping program this year, and is urging drivers to comply with the yellow street sweeping signs to avoid a ticket or vehicle relocation. Compared to last year at this time, an average of 8 per cent more parking tickets are being issued per day, and relocation tows are up 18 per cent. Relocated vehicles can be found through the City’s Find My Vehicle! application at saskatoon.ca/betterroads or by calling Public Works Customer Service at 306-975-2476.