Ottawa spring street sweeping begins Monday, Here’s what to expect

A temporary no-parking sign in Ottawa's Sandy Hill neighbourhood, April 14, 2015

While Ottawa street sweeping is scheduled to begin on Monday, people are asked to watch for "no-parking" signs in several neighbourhoods.

“Vehicles remaining in signed temporary no parking areas will be ticketed and towed,” Ottawa By-Law said in a post on X.

To avoid parking tickets, residents are asked to move their vehicles accordingly.

“This means your street will be cleaned more efficiently!” read the post.

The City of Ottawa says on its website street sweeping is done in several phases:

• Sidewalks, bus stop pads and medians are cleaned first by a variety of methods using sidewalk sweepers, flusher trucks and hand brooms.

• City streets are swept by a flusher truck, which uses water pressure to flush the debris to the side of the curbs. A vacuum sweeper truck then picks up the majority of grit, debris, small particles and dust.

• This operation might be repeated several times to ensure a clean surface. If vehicles are parked on the street, the unswept area is noted and crews will return to sweep that portion. If you think a street has been missed, please visit serviceottawa.ca to complete an online request.

• In our suburban communities, we will be working around the clock to complete our street sweeping operations. Residents can expect to see our vehicles out working through the night.

In concentrated streets, sweeping operations are expected to begin Monday and be completed on April 11, said the city. This type of street sweeping is usually conducted between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Here’s what you should know about concentrated areas:

• Concentrated sweeping is conducted in the downtown core, Vanier, New Edinburgh, Sandy Hill, Glebe, Centretown, West Centretown, ByWard Market, Lowertown, Old Ottawa East and Old Ottawa South and Overbrook.

• On-street parking restrictions are in effect in these neighbourhoods when marked.

• Parking restrictions apply to all vehicles, including those with on-street parking permits.

• Vehicles parked where temporary “no-parking” signs are posted will towed to nearby streets. Towed vehicles are usually moved just a few blocks over.

• If you are unable to find your vehicle on your own, call 3-1-1.

All street parking operations are weather permitting, the city said.