Mild Weather Means Early Start For Street Sweeping Season
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A mild winter and an easy spring have led to an early start for the city's street cleaners.
Street sweeping normally doesn't start until April 1, but Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation spokeswoman Jennifer Martinez said this year is different.
"There have several crews who are actually out throughout all 50 of the wards throughout Chicago, and we're going to focus on cleaning those main streets, those center viaducts, everything to get ready for the street sweeping season that starts April 1," she said.
Thanks to the mild winter and pleasant start to spring, the city was able to move crews from snow plow duty to begin cleaning the city's main streets of debris a few weeks early. The city was able to take advantage of the winter overnight parking ban to sweep busy streets where cars normally would be parked from April 1 to December 1.
"We're going to be out there through March 31, cleaning those main routes, just to get it ready for the spring season," Martinez said.
Beginning April 1, street sweeping crews will begin working on a schedule to clean residential streets. Find the schedule for your ward here.