The Division of Infrastructure Management's
Street Maintenance Section sweeps streets from early April through the
last week of October. The street sweeping program is focused on mitigating
environmental concerns to prevent pollution from entering our waterways and to
advance the city’s sustainability goals.
Street Sweeping
The
City of Columbus has updated its annual street sweeping program to ensure an
equitable approach to cleaning debris and pollutants along curbed streets
before they reach local streams and harm water quality.
The
update coincides with the Department of Public Utilities seeking renewal in
2022 of the city’s Municipal Separate Storm System, or MS4, permit, required by
the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Most areas of the city have separate
sanitary and storm sewer pipes. Storm sewer discharges to streams, rivers and
lakes with no treatment.
The
Ohio EPA recognizes street sweeping as a pollution prevention practice.
Sweeping helps to improve water quality. It addresses two pollutants of concern
— sediment and phosphorous — affecting local watersheds, including the
Olentangy River, Big Walnut Creek and Big Darby Creek.
The
permit renewal process has given the city an opportunity to develop a
data-driven approach to street sweeping.
Using data from the Division of Refuse Collection’s annual
Litter Index of all city streets, additional sweeping will occur on residential
and arterial streets in high debris zones to prevent litter and pollutants from
entering storm sewers and harming water quality.
Street Sweeping Fact Sheet
Effective in April 2022:
- The city will sweep all curbed streets at least two times during street sweeping season each year.
- Current signage posted to restrict parking during street sweeping dates/times will be removed in all areas except in the University District. Signs with posted parking restrictions will remain and be enforced there to allow for effective sweeping.
- If needed, temporary signage for street sweeping notification may be installed in areas where on-street parking demand impacts the ability for optimal sweeping to occur
The street sweeping program may continue to be refined as the city determines additional data collection that further identifies areas of high surface pollutants impacting our waterways.
To find out if and when street
sweeping crews will visit your neighborhood, please type your address into the
“Street Sweeping Schedules and Reminders” search window
above. You will receive one of two message types
1) If street sweeping is scheduled for your area, the next date in which
sweeping is scheduled will appear. You will also be presented with
the option for signing up for automated reminders for future street sweeping
events in your area. Just select the “Get a Reminder” or “Get a Calendar”
button and follow the instructions to sign up for the notification method of
your choice
2) If you are outside the City of Columbus or not currently in the city’s
sweeping program, you will receive a message stating that “The City of Columbus
is not responsible for street sweeping within this area.”.
Any comments and concerns regarding the online tool, or our street sweeping
program, may be submitted by using the “Need Help?” tab.