The street sweeping program is expected to be ongoing until the end of June (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

Cleaning up the streets

Lethbridge street sweeping program gets underway this week

Apr 23, 2019 | 12:10 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The sweepers are hitting the streets.

The City of Lethbridge’s annual street sweeping program kicks off Wednesday, April 24.

Crews will be driving around collecting dust, sand and other debris off local roads to prevent materials from ending up in stormwater systems and to generally keep the streets clean.

“They (residents) can expect the whole program, weather depending, to take about two months. We plan to end up done by the end of June,” said Adam Campbell, transportation operations manager for the City of Lethbridge.

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“Our night crews will come and set up signs at night indicating what roads they’ll be working on, so there will be no parking signs set up at the start of the block, end of the block and mid-block and then the next day, we will come out and sweep the streets.”

The program will start off in north Lethbridge, before moving to the south end of the city and then west Lethbridge neighborhoods.

Crews demonstrating the work for local media on April 23, 2019 (Lethbridge News Now)

“Ultimately what we’re trying to do is just get a nice, clean street,” Campbell added.

He noted that the City does try to filter and reuse the collected debris as much as possible.

The materials are picked up and brought to a sorting facility at the waste water treatment plant, as well as at a new operations depot in west Lethbridge.

Once sorting is done, any leftover materials that cannot be reused will go to the landfill.

PARKING

The City is asking residents to make sure they obey the no parking signs.

Campbell said this is to ensure nobody gets hurt. He also offered up some tips for drivers who are caught behind one of the sweeping trucks.

“All of our trucks are equipped with big lights and beacons. When you see them, they’re going to be slow-moving vehicles so just slow down around them, try not to pass them if it’s not safe. Be cautious because they (can) move in erratic ways,” he explained.

Not only are there safety tips to keep in mind, people who do not obey the no parking signs could be hit with a $30 fine under the City’s Traffic Bylaw.

According to officials, the no parking zones will be in effect from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. the following day. After crews have completed sweeping, tickets will be issued to vehicles that were not moved.

No parking signs will be set up in the sweeping areas (Lethbridge News Now)

Dave Henley, the City’s senior bylaw officer said that no parking signs might be gone by the time someone spots a ticket on their vehicle, because crews have already moved on from the area.

“Individuals who receive tickets are those whose vehicle was there, and the sweeper had to go around,” Henley said.

“If you come back and have a ticket on your windshield and you’re not sure that there’s any signs there, certainly the signs were in place, they just may have been removed and moved to the next zone.”

He noted that sometimes the sweepers will have to sweep through one area more than once, so it’s important to wait until the area is completely clear before parking again.

Henley added that since the ticketing system was put into place, they’ve seen a boost in compliance of the no parking signs.

“This is our third year of ticketing, and we’ve seen a reduction in the number of tickets that we’ve issued from the first year to the second year. We’ve only got a couple of years experience, but we did see a reduction of a couple hundred tickets,” he said.

“The goal of the street sweeping program is not to issue any tickets at all. It really is just to make sure the streets are clear so the sweepers can go through as efficiently as possible and get the streets swept from curb to curb.”

Henley ensured that there is no risk for people to receive multiple tickets. If the no parking rules are broken, a vehicle owner will only get one ticket.

In addition to the no parking signs, two notices will be given in advance to advise residents that crews will be in their neighborhood.

Door hangers will be delivered about one week before sweepers are scheduled to arrive, and reminder cards will be placed on windshields of vehicles parked on the street the day before sweepers arrive.

Crews will also be sweeping arterial roads in non-residential areas Monday to Friday between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.

More information can be found at www.lethbridge.ca/streetsweeping or by calling 311.

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