Fall street sweeping underway in St. Paul, to start Tuesday in Minneapolis

Crews in the Twin Cities are starting to sweep streets this week in an effort to clear debris before winter.

St. Paul started its efforts Monday while Minneapolis says its crews will begin to sweep streets across the city Tuesday, meaning some streets will have temporary parking restrictions.

During the four weeks of the fall street sweep in Minneapolis, crews will clean about 1,000 miles of city streets. Temporary hot pink “no parking” signs will be posted at least 24 hours in advance so streets will be clear of cars when they’re swept. The first signs will be posted Monday, Oct. 16, and sweeping will begin the next day. Anyone who parks on the street must abide by the rules or their cars may be ticketed and towed.

The city says parking will be banned from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the day a street is swept.

St. Paul takes mostly the same approach, posting “no parking” signs 24 hours in advance of operations and subjecting offenders to potential tickets and tows.

Additionally, St. Paul urges residents to not push any materials into the street, as that is against city ordinances but something neighbors report every year.

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

To stay informed about street sweeping in Minneapolis, look out for the “no parking” signs, email and text alerts, which you can sign up for here, as well as social media, videos and the street sweeping schedule map from the city’s website.

St. Paul has more information about its operations, including a map, here.