Street sweeping begins Monday, Edmonton issues parking ban reminder

Street sweeping in Edmonton. (John Hanson/CTV News Edmonton)

Edmonton is set to begin spring street sweeping on April 8 to clear away gravel and other debris left over from winter.

The city will begin with major roadways, business improvement areas, active pathways and bike lanes. Residential street cleaning will begin on April 15.

"Spring sweep diverts unwanted materials from flowing into storm drains and into our water sources and it also keeps materials from disrupting our air quality," said Mark Beare, the director of infrastructure operations with the city.

"It removes debris so there's less damage to vehicles and generally makes our roadways and our active pathways safer for everybody to use."

Street cleaning will run Monday to Friday, 24 hours a day. Crews are expected to finish by June 1.

Crews will work on arterial roads and boulevards between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., while residential roads will be worked on between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays, parking bans will be in effect for neighbourhoods where cleaning crews are scheduled to be.

"Vehicles will not be towed, but owners will receive a fine of $250 per vehicle," said the city in a news release.

"A parking ban is necessary for residential neighbourhoods as it allows crews to safely clean all debris from curb to curb," added Val Dacyk, General Supervisor of Infrastructure Field Operations.

Parking ban signs will be put in neighbourhoods 48 hours before work begins so residents have enough warning. The city has twice as many signs to place this year, according to Dacyk.

This is the first year for parking ban enforcement during the spring street sweep, according to Keith Scott, the director for complaints investigations with the city.

"We want to get a behavior change when it comes to moving vehicles during parking bans," said Scott. "There's nothing worse than trying to drive around vehicles, damaging vehicles."

A map showing which streets have been cleared is available on the city's website and will be updated daily. There is also a link to sign up for parking ban notifications, it is the same one used for snow and ice removal notifications.

People are also encouraged to remove driveway ramps when crews are in the area for street cleaning to avoid damage to ramps.

"This is the one and only time of the year where we encourage residents to sweep off their driveways and adjacent sidewalks into the roadway before spring sweep happens in order to be able to clean up that debris," Dacyk said.

The spring snow Friday is actually expected to help the cleaning crews, rather than delay them.

"It does actually help us a little bit because it prevents us from having to pre-wet the area," Dacyk said. "So as long as we don't get really cold, and I'm talking below -5 C, we should be able to continue as planned."

The city has over 12,000 kilometres of roadways and 500 kilometres of pathways to maintain.