Steet cleaning signs are starting to pop up around Okotoks as the annual sweeping of roadways gets underway.

Melanie Heemeryck, communications specialist with the Town of Okotoks, says the town is split up into zones, or neighbourhoods, and crews and equipment work their way from one zone to the next.

She says the work is done in both day and night shifts.

"During the daytime, the cleaning crews prioritize in the residential areas," Heemeryck explains. "In the night shift, the cleaning crews typically focus their efforts on the larger-priority routes where there's less traffic volumes experienced during the night time hours, making the cleaning efforts more safe and efficient for crews and the public while creating less disruptions for traffic."

As always, residents are asked to watch for street cleaning signs in their neighbourhoods and to remember to remove vehicles and any other objects, such as basketball hoops, from the roadways to ensure crews can complete the work. She says waste collection won't be affected by street cleaning and residents can place their bins out as usual on their collection days.

"Should an area be missed, you can call the operations business centre to have the area documented," Heemeryck says. "And then the crews can return back to the areas once the initial major clean-up efforts are completed and make sure that they cover off those areas that vehicles hadn't been removed from the street yet."

The town budgets about $200,000 for its annual street cleaning efforts, which goes towards labour, equipment and assistance from contractors.

The spring street cleaning efforts are expected to take about eight weeks to complete. For more information on street cleaning in the Town of Okotoks, click here.

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