Watch where you park: street sweepers are coming to a block near you!

With the winter snow piles retreating, it's time for the City to clean up all the dirt and grime the melting snow and ice left behind on Minneapolis streets. Crews are set to begin the comprehensive spring street sweep in mid-April.

Over the course of five weeks, Minneapolis Public Works will send sweepers down all 1,100 miles of city streets. Weather permitting, the spring street sweeping will begin on Tuesday, April 15.

To make sure the sweepers can do the best job possible, temporary "No Parking" signs will be posted at least 24 hours in advance to make sure streets are clear of parked vehicles. Residents need to follow street sweep parking rules or they may have their cars ticketed and towed.

"No Parking" signs – As the sweep gets underway, City crews will post "No Parking" signs at least 24 hours before sweeping any streets. Parking will be banned from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the day a street is swept. The "No Parking" signs will be removed as soon as possible after a street has been completely swept to allow people to resume parking. Vehicles not in compliance with "No Parking" signs will be ticketed and towed to the Minneapolis Impound Lot.

Phone calls to residents – In addition to the "No Parking" signs that will be posted the day before sweepers come through, the City will make about 3,500 automated phone calls each evening to let residents know their street will be swept the next day.

Interactive Web tool – Starting a few days before the sweep begins, folks will be able to use a tool on the City's Web site to find out when the sweepers are coming through their neighborhoods.

By going to www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/streetsweep, residents can find out which week their street is scheduled to be swept. The weekend before that week, they can revisit the city to find out which of the five days of the work week that the sweeping will occur.

Minneapolis is known for its sparking lakes and waterways, and we want to keep it that way.

That's why protecting and enhancing our environment is one of the City's top priorities.

Street sweeping is one way we work to protect our environment because it keeps leaves and debris from clogging our storm drains and polluting our lakes and rivers. It also helps keep our neighborhoods clean and livable.