It’s that time of year when the snow begins to melt, and the streets are left dirty and dusty. Unfortunately, we can’t just rush out and clean the streets right away, as there are many factors involved.
Street sweeping cannot begin until the pavement temperatures consistently remain above zero. The sweeper utilizes a fine water spray to keep the dust from the street dampened down. If the temperatures are below freezing, the water spray freezes, and the dust and debris remains frozen to the pavement and cannot be removed.
The sweeper works most efficiently when in tandem with the water truck. This causes less wear on the sweeper and provides a superior level of sweeping. However, the water truck serves as a dual-purpose vehicle and converts from a sander to a water truck, therefore, we try to judge when sanding will be over for the season, before the Mechanics make the change from a winter to a summer function.
It is anticipated that the sweeper will begin operations during the month of March, but this could spill into April. Factors, which may affect the start and routine of the sweeper are, weather, equipment failure, and the need for the sweeper and manpower on emergency jobs.
Once sweeping begins, the routes are as follows:
Residential areas (These are done on a rotational basis in order to be fair to all)
Once the sweeping begins, these procedures will be carried out as quickly and efficiently as possible. Please be patient, as the Town only has ONE machine to cover the whole area.