Street Sweeping

Street sweeping plays a big role in keeping our community looking great and functioning properly. It clears away leaves and litter, helps prevent street flooding, and protects the health of our local streams by keeping pollutants out of the storm drains. Below you'll find a zone map, FAQ section, and more information on this program and its benefits.

From April through November, our sweepers make their way through the city zone by zone, aiming to hit each area a few times a year. When it’s your zone’s turn, we just ask that you move your car off the street, if possible, during weekday hours (7 a.m.–4 p.m.) so our team can do a thorough job.

  1. Why is street sweeping important?
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  3. Why was a section of my street not swept?
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Street sweeping zones

BACKGROUND

The benefits of street sweeping are threefold: aesthetics, flood prevention and water quality improvement of local streams. Sweeping removes unsightly debris, litter and trash to beautify roadways. This prevents the formation of thick mats that cause localized street flooding. In turn, this reduces the frequency of stormwater inlet and catch basin cleaning.  

Pollutants, when combined with stormwater, can degrade the water quality of local streams. These include but are not limited to sediment, deicing materials, pesticides, excess nutrients from fertilizers, fluids from leaking cars and trace metals. Street sweeping helps to mitigate these impacts and improve water quality by reducing pollutant loads before they enter the stormwater system that drain into waterways.  

ON-STREET PARKING 

When your zone is being swept, please move vehicles parked on the street to enable optimal sweeping results. Vehicles should be moved weekdays from 7 a.m. - 4 p.m. The city will not ticket nor tow vehicles in relation to sweeping operations. The sweeper will maneuver around any parked vehicle. 

SWEEPING POLICIES

The purpose of street sweeping is to clean the roadway of impurities and small debris. The equipment is not designed for large-scale yard waste pickup. Large quantities of yard waste, especially leaves, will clog sweeper filters. Significant deposits of lawn clippings, leaves, brush, branches or other yard waste will not be swept. Proper disposal of such items is through the City’s yard waste collection service.  

It is important that leaves and any other yard waste not be raked or blown into the street. This helps to prevent the stormwater system from becoming clogged in between sweep cycles. As a reminder, it is a violation of City code (Gahanna’s Codified Ordinance 521.06) to intentionally rake or blow leaves or other debris into the street. 

SCHEDULE AND SERVICE AREA MAP

Street sweeping operations are conducted April-November. The goal is to sweep all roadways 3-5 times per year. It can take between 5-8 weeks to sweep the entire City depending on temperatures, weather, equipment and manpower.   

The City is divided into 5 sweeping zones. When a zone is completed, the City will move to the next zone. Once all 5 zones have been swept, a new cycle will begin. Sweeping will occur on weekdays only during normal daylight hours.