Regina street sweepers back on the road

After being rudely interrupted by last week’s blizzard, Regina’s street sweeping crews are finally back out on the road.

According to Tyler Bien, the City of Regina’s manager of roadway seasonal operations, crews restarted the sweeping operations on Monday after they had to wait for the snow to melt and the temperatures to rise above the freezing mark.

He says right now, crews are working hard to get all the dirt off the roads.

“The street sweepers are out and about right now. They’re currently focused on mostly the major roads like Albert and Broad (Streets),” Bien said. “We’re trying to get those cleaned up as quick as possible before we move onto those major areas.”

With crews out and about, Bien notes they’ll be working around the clock.

“Right now, we start at 4 in the morning and work until 9:30 at night. So a lot of those busy streets, we’ll get out there early and try to get them cleaned and (crews) off that road before people start going to work,” he added.

According to Bien, it normally takes six to seven weeks to get all the dirt cleaned off all of the city’s roads.

Although crews are out on the busiest roads mostly while residents are asleep, Bien still asked drivers to use caution if they see street sweepers on the roads.

“Be aware. They’re big pieces of machinery. If (someone comes) upon them, (they should) try and give them room (and) let them do their work. They’re trying to get off that road as quick as they can because they don’t want to impact (people) either,” Bien explained.

This year, the city is encouraging people to use the Sweep & Plow app, which can tell people when the street sweepers are coming to their neighbourhoods or if there have been any delays.