Street sweepers were out in Philadelphia Monday for the first regularly scheduled cleaning of residential blocks by the city in years –– and, in another recent first, residents moved their cars to make way for the cleaning crews.
Philadelphia is the only major city without a comprehensive cleaning program, following years of budget cuts and complaints about related parking regulations. Following a limited street cleaning pilot in 2020, the city committed $62 million over the next five years to boost mechanical sweeping and, last week, rolled out plans for the “phase two” pilot program that commenced Monday. Four zones in North, South, and Southwest Philadelphia were selected by the city’s Streets Department for weekly cleaning and marked with new parking asking residents to move their cars out of the curb line. | From: WHYY (Read more.)