The City of Calgary's street sweeping program will begin on April 15

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As spring officially begins to bloom, the City of Calgary is hoping for a clean sweep.

The annual street sweeping program is scheduled to begin Monday, according to Adam Pawlak, the city's director of mobility planning and operations.

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Over the next 10 weeks, the city's fleet of 32 cleaners will clean a network covering 16,000 kilometers of residential roads in Calgary.

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The network includes nine maintenance districts, with at least three sweepers working in each district daily. Pawlak said crews sweep a given street an average of three times on each side of the road.

The city spends $10.4 million annually on street sweeping.

The program is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., except on statutory holidays.

Pavlak said street sweeping has many benefits, such as keeping winter debris out of the city's stormwater system, as well as reducing dust, which helps improve overall air quality.

Aside from bad weather events like heavy rain or snow, parked cars are the most common challenge for crews, Pawlak said.

While the residential cleanup program occasionally starts in early April, Pawlak said this year's program was pushed back a bit due to heavy snow in March.

“Depending on the severity of the winter, we've started early or late in previous seasons,” he said. “We released less material than last year, but we still expect it to be a busy season.”

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If the weather is bad, Pawlak said the day's cleanup will be moved to the end of the program in late June.

Residents can check the city's website to find out when sweepers will be passing through their neighborhood. Pawlak noted that cars cannot be parked on the street on those days, or they will be towed a short distance and the owner will receive a Calgary parking ticket.

“Calgarians are already moving their cars well,” he said. “We really appreciate their support in making this program a success. We hope they will follow the schedule closely, look for signs in their communities and visit calgary.ca/sweep for sweep times.

“It's a very high priority”

While most Calgarians comply with the request to move their vehicles off the road before the street sweeping program, tens of thousands do not receive the memo.

According to Todd Sullivan, head of parking patrol and Calgary parking investigations, the parking authority issues between 25,000 and 40,000 fines during its annual street sweep schedule.

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He said the number of tickets and towings has steadily declined since 2019, when Calgary Parking switched to photo-license plate recognition.

Fines for parking your car on the street start at $70 and go up to $90 — significantly higher than a typical parking ticket fine, which starts at $40 and goes up to $60.

Sullivan said the purpose of higher fines is to encourage people to pay attention to signs and move their cars.

“Our goal is always to see it go down,” he said. “Our intention and hope is higher compliance year after year. We have seen this with gradual improvements since 2019 and we hope to see it again in 2024.”

Revenue from fines is returned to the city's general revenue account rather than being used to fund the street sweeping program.

Saying it's an “absolutely high priority,” Sullivan noted that one-third of Calgary Parking's photo enforcement workforce is dedicated to policing the street sweep program.

“It's a very high priority,” he said. “Cleanliness is an important part of our annual mobility work. It is beneficial for the environment, security, and the overall beautification of the city.”

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