A Sure Sign of Spring: Street Sweeping Underway on Municipal Roads

The City of Greater Sudbury continues to maintain essential infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic. Maintenance includes street sweeping now underway to prepare municipal roads for line painting. Work is scheduled to be complete by mid-June, dependent on weather and the impact of physical distancing on operations.

All municipally maintained roads with a hard top or finished coat of asphalt, including bridges and gutters, are swept each spring. Sidewalks and walkways plowed and sanded during the winter are cleared, as well as hard surfaced boulevards and medians.

City crews have been sweeping streets in high pedestrian traffic areas and high risk drainage areas to protect waterways from runoff. At the end of April, operations will expand citywide with the support of contractors Jara Sweeping and The Munro Group.

Residents are reminded that noise and dust are unavoidable during street sweeping. Leaves, lawn clippings and other debris should not be deposited on roads or sidewalks. Sand from driveways and yards can be swept onto roads in a thin layer to avoid clogging street vacuums.

As crews will be working around-the-clock, it is important not to park on streets overnight and to remove basketball and hockey nets that may obstruct equipment. Garbage containers and recycling boxes should not be placed on roads and gutters until sweeping is complete.

It typically takes several passes with a street sweeper to remove sand and debris. It can sometimes take two days between the initial pass and the final pass before a street is completed. City crews and contractors may share work on the same street.

Further information, scheduled and completed areas of the city will be available at www.greatersudbury.ca/streetsweeping.

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