Cleaning city streets provides safe conditions for all modes of transportation. This includes sweeping and flushing services for over 360 lanes miles of streets since wider streets require two or more sweeps. Clean streets improve air standards and stormwater quality for the citizens of Elk River.
City streets are swept twice a year - in the spring and again in the fall. The spring sweeping begins in early April and takes about 6 - 8 weeks. Fall sweeping is completed in late September thru early November.
Street crews alternate sweeping start and finish points each year so that no area is always first or last. The fall sweeping is not intended to sweep up leaves. Residents are responsible for leaf collection.
Please don’t rake leaves or grass clippings into the street:
- They clog grates and pipes, contributing to back-ups and/or flooding
- They accumulate in pipes - reducing flow, causing ponding and mosquito breeding areas
- They are a safety problem when wet - cars can easily fail to stop, sliding on wet leaves
- Dispose of them at the composite site