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1. Why doesn't the City have a set sweeping schedule?

Currently the City has no set sweeping schedule because sweeper routes are complex and daily sweeping may be interrupted to respond to special situations such as vehicle accidents clean-ups, winter sand recovery (after a snow or ice storm) and leaf collections. Other factors that contribute to a variable schedule are debris load sizes, sweeper down time, staffing levels and storm events.

If you would like to be informed when street sweeping will start in your area you can sign up for street sweeping notification. The street sweeping notification will not tell you the exact date your street will be swept but it will inform you a range of days that sweeping will take place, including things that you can do to ensure your street gets swept.

2. I live on a collector street. Must you sweep my street at night?

Arterials, collectors and some streets in residential areas such as the University and downtown core need to be swept by our night shift operations staff because the volume of traffic and parking is too heavy during the day. The practice of night shift sweeping has been in effect for many years.

Our sweeper operators are very conscious that there are homes on or near arterial and collector streets. Operators move through such areas as quickly as possible in an attempt to minimize noise by limiting idling and avoiding filling the sweepers with water at residential fire hydrants.

3. Why does the City schedule street sweeping on the same day as my garbage pick-up day?

Coordinating sweeping activities around garbage and recycling services would be very difficult. There are multiple refuse haulers within the city limits that provide garbage and recycling services on various days throughout the week. Attempting to avoid certain areas within sweeping routes on several collection days would not only be challenging to arrange, but also costly and inefficient.

The City of Eugene has no set sweeping schedule because sweeper routes are complex and may be interrupted to respond to emergency situations. With over 2000 city streets, alleys and bike paths to maintain with limited resources, coordinating street sweeping around refuse collection and other commercial activities is not currently feasible.

4. Why does the sweeper sweep down the middle of the street?

There are times when the sweeper only sweeps down the middle of the street because of parked cars, overhanging tree branches or hedges, and trash containers and asphalt ramps that property owners place in front of their driveways. These types of situations prevent the sweepers from getting to the curb and can cause damage to the sweepers.

5. Why is my street being swept when the street appears to be clean and has no litter?

During the summer months there is less visible debris on the streets. It is still important, however, to keep cleaning the street on a consistent basis. Sweeping reduces stormwater contaminants, such as grit, sediment and heavy metals, which are difficult to see. Reducing this debris is significant in order to prevent such contaminants from entering the stormwater system which discharges directly into our local water ways.