CITY CREWS PREPARE TO SWEEP EVERY STREET IN RAPID CITY IN MAY
Public invited to monitor progress of crews online
RAPID CITY, SD—Crews at Rapid City’s Streets Division are preparing for ‘Sweeps Month’ in May!
No, we’re not talking about the old-style Sweeps Month when TV networks and cable companies jockeyed for ratings by luring fans with blockbuster movies and series featuring season-ending suspense-filled shows.
The City’s Streets Division is planning on sweeping every street on Rapid City’s 400-plus mile transportation system in May, putting its 10 sweepers and crews to the test to collect debris left over on streets from the winter season. Most of the City’s street system contains multiple lanes of traffic.
And City officials are inviting the public to monitor the progress and work of the sweeper crews during May. The public can monitor the location of the sweepers by visiting live https://www.rcgov.org/departments/public-works/streets-division.html . Sweeper crews will get started this Thursday with plans to complete a couple routes this week and another five routes next week.
Drivers are advised to use caution when approaching or passing street sweepers and to be mindful of oncoming traffic in the work area.
On average, City sweepers collect more than 2,000 tons (yes, TONS!) of material from city streets each year. That’s a lot of gravel, dirt, rock and other debris.
“The city sweepers may move along at slow speeds but they move tons of debris off city streets each year,” said City Streets Superintendent Jesse Rieb. “The crews are looking forward to this upcoming challenge in May to attack every street in Rapid City and collect debris left over from the winter season.”
The sweepers and crews collect tons of material left behind from the thousands of cars traveling city streets on a daily basis, as well as picking up debris residing on streets and gutters produced from various weather conditions, and material deposited from wash outs produced from heavy precipitation.
“Our sweepers are kept busy throughout the year,” Rieb said.
Stacked alongside other trucks and vehicles in the City fleet, the street sweepers don’t possess the speed of the police cruisers, the brawn of the solid waste dumpsters or the girth of the dump trucks and plows over at the streets department. When it comes to speed and maneuverability, City sweepers are the sloths of the fleet.
If the City’s fleet of vehicles were in a parade, the City Street Sweepers are the equivalent of the shovel-bearing workers that follow the horses and elephants. But much like the pothole patchers, plows, dump trucks and trash haulers, the sweepers play a key role in keeping the city clean.
City sweepers collect not only dirt and gravel, but cups, bottles, cigarette butts, paper items and other debris.
Sweeper crews work in residential areas during the day and main line areas at night for safety reasons to minimize interaction with traffic. The collected material is dropped off at the Street Shop detention area on Steele Avenue, dried and then taken to the Rapid City Landfill, which uses the material for cover.
“The work done by the sweepers and the crews – it’s a slow process but an important part of keeping our community clean,” says Jeremy Cahill of the Streets Division, noting the sweepers operate at about five miles per hour when collecting material. The vehicles display bright lights to alert the public of their presence.
The sweepers help reduce the dirt, dust and debris buildup on roads and are part of the important role of street department crews along with snow removal and patching potholes.
