The DC Department of Public Works (DPW) announced today that weekly (signed), residential mechanical street cleaning will end for the season on Friday, October 29, 2010. “No parking/street cleaning” restrictions will be lifted and motorists may park along posted, alternate-side, daytime street sweeping routes without being required to move their cars on street-cleaning days.

Residential street sweeping is suspended for public safety concerns during the winter. Trucks used to clean the streets are designed to release a fine spray of water to control the dust as they sweep. When the temperature drops to freezing or below, sweeping is discontinued to prevent freezing and accidents to vehicles and pedestrians.

Overnight sweeping scheduled for the District’s major roadways, which include Pennsylvania, Georgia, Constitution, and Independence avenues, will take place as usual all winter, as the weather permits. Motorists are urged not to park in these areas during the posted overnight sweeping hours.
Residents and business owners will be notified when street sweeping resumes again in the spring of 2011.

By suspending the street sweeping program, DPW personnel can focus on leaf collection, which will begin November 8, as well as the upcoming snow removal season. The 2010-2011 leaf season will run November 8, 2010, through January 15, 2011. During this time, leaves will be vacuumed from each street at least twice.

New brochures announcing the fall/winter leaf collection season will be mailed to residents beginning this weekend. The 2010-2011 leaf collection schedule also can be found by visiting www.dpw.dc.gov, selecting “Education and Outreach” and then “Brochures and Fact Sheets”.