Street Sweepers Working Overnight Hours Starting March 3, 2024

Starting on the evening of Sunday, March 3, 2024, Streets Division sweepers will be operating on Madison roadways 16-hours a day collecting the sand, salt, and other accumulated grit from the roads.

One shift will be working from 10:00pm to 6:00am.  And another shift of operators will be sweeping from 7:00am to 3:00pm. 

Crews will be working these hours for the next four weeks, depending on weather conditions. 

How to Help

Sweepers can only collect what they have access to along the curb. Remember to follow all posted parking restrictions, and please choose off-street parking options at night. Also, avoid placing trash and recycling carts in the street.

 Parked vehicles and collection carts in the street block sweepers from collecting the debris in the gutter. 

And it can be several days until a sweeper can rotate back to neighborhoods for another pass to collect the missed grit.

As a reminder to all roadway users, street sweepers are very slow vehicles. 

When they are actively collecting debris, they move at a top speed of 5 MPH. If you encounter a street sweeper while traveling through the city, please be patient.  Give them plenty of space to do their work safely.

Why are sweepers working extra hours at night?

Street sweepers cannot work when temperatures are below freezing because they require water to work.  This means during the winter months, sweeping cannot occur.  This creates a buildup of general grit and grime, plus winter sand and salt on city streets.  

The goal of the extra sweeping hours is to collect as much debris that has accumulated on the roads over the winter as possible before spring rains wash it into the storm drains and out into our waterways.

The extra hours occur during the overnight hours because it is safer.  As stated earlier, sweepers are very slow vehicles.  Whenever possible, it is best to have them working when they are less likely to come into conflict with heavy traffic. 

Additional Information

For more information about the Streets Division sweeping operations, go to street sweeping page the Street Maintenance section of the Streets Division’s website, www.cityofmadison.com/streets.