A La Jolla Town Council member is on a quest to keep La Jolla clean.
As part of that mission, trustee David Talcott wants to raise awareness about San Diego city street sweeping.
“On streets that have signs — meaning cars have to move from one side of the street to the other — they do the best they can,” Talcott said at the Town Council’s meeting this month. “But on streets where there is no signage, it’s completely voluntary … so the street sweeper comes down the middle of the street … which is not very effective.”
According to the city, street sweeping vehicles are outfitted with water sprayers, rotating brushes and a vacuum, “which work together to remove toxic pollutants and trash from roads while reducing dust levels.”
The city says it has more than 2,700 miles of streets in the sweeping program and 20 power sweepers and operators, with a support staff of truck drivers and parking enforcement officers.
But not every street has signs requiring that parked cars be moved on sweeping days.
In researching what could be done in such cases, Talcott — a longtime volunteer with environmental group I Love A Clean San Diego — made some calls to the city and was provided door hangers that state when street sweeping is scheduled.
The free hangers “can be placed on your neighbors’ doors or vehicles if you think that’s appropriate,” he said.
City of San Diego street sweeping notices like this one can be sent to residents for free and distributed to neighbors.
(Ashley Mackin-Solomon / U-T Community Press)
Without signs, he said, moving cars “is completely voluntary … but your street doesn’t get cleaned. Most of the trash gets relegated to the gutter. … I’ve seen street sweepers in action. If there is an open spot, they will try to get in there.”
Talcott said he hopes that if residents know when the street sweepers are coming, they’ll be less inclined to park on the street.
However, getting signs placed on a street that would require cars to be moved “requires 70 percent of registered homeowners on that street to sign a document that allows the city to install signage … that makes it a parking violation for them to park when street sweeping is supposed to occur,” Talcott said.
He added that he is considering such an effort in his Barber Tract neighborhood.
Town Council President Treger Strasberg encouraged anyone who has complained about trash on the streets to work to get signs posted.
To learn when a street is scheduled for sweeping, visit sandiego.gov/streetsweeping and open the interactive map.
