File photo of a City of Lethbridge street sweeping vehicle (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

COVID-19 results in changes to Lethbridge’s street sweeping program

Apr 22, 2020 | 9:35 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Changes have been made to Lethbridge’s street sweeping program.

The service will start on Thursday, April 23 (weather depending) and has been modified because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The City of Lethbridge says the biggest difference from years past is a lack of paper. There will be no paper door hanger reminders or windshield wiper notices, and no parking tickets.

Residents are still being asked to do their part and move their vehicle before 7:30 a.m. on street sweeping days.

Instead of relying on traditional paper notifications, the city has created a new option for residents to sign up for a personalized street sweeping notice by email, text or automated phone call.

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To sign up for that service, visit www.lethbridge.ca/StreetSweeping. Anyone who signs up will receive a notice the day before or the day street sweepers arrive.

Temporary ‘no parking’ signs will still be posted in specific neighbourhoods the day before street sweepers arrive on scene.

The city said that for 2020 only, parking tickets will not be issued to vehicles that are not moved from the street. Instead, sweepers will work around vehicles parked on the street, but they will not be returning to areas that are not swept.

The street sweeping will start in south Lethbridge before moving to the west side, followed by north Lethbridge neighbourhoods.

The city noted that the area of Lethbridge where sweeping starts rotates annually.

Regularly, arterial roads without on-street parking and roads in industrial areas are swept at night between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. to avoid impeding traffic during busier daytime hours. Due to COVID-19, and decreased traffic in these areas, night sweeping will shift to daytime hours until further notice.

The street sweeping program sees workers clean thousands of tonnes of sand, dirt and other debris from about 550 kilometres of roadway in Lethbridge. The city says this helps prevent that material from washing into the Oldman River via the storm sewer system.

It also reduces dust in neighbourhoods and makes streets safer for cycling, walking and driving. The city ensures that sweeping is scheduled as to not conflict with garbage pickup.

Sand and debris picked up by street sweepers gets stored and cleaned. The reconditioned sand is reused by mixing it into new sand for the following year’s sanding operation. Residual waste material is disposed of safely in the landfill.

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