Purpose

The City of Pueblo maintains a street sweeping program that is implemented to improve water quality, air quality, road maintenance, aesthetics and above all public safety.

The Streets Division sweeping fleet consists of 4 street sweepers and 4 street sweeper operators along with 2 dump trucks and 2 truck drivers that accompany the sweepers. These trucks aid in the efficiency of our sweeping program as the sweepers do not have to drive to our collection area to dump.  

One of these sweepers is dedicated to a weekly Business/Night Route operation that sweeps the downtown area and several other routes that are less congested during this time. These include several areas of state highway within the City limits that the Streets Division is responsible for.  

The Streets Division sweeps over 480 paved miles of streets, including residential and major collector and arterial streets, and State Highway within the city limits. These are divided into Nine North side areas and nine South side areas assigned specific street sweeper operators.

Along with the Business/Night Route sweeping our duties include residential sweeping, leaf season, storm clean-up and accident and emergency calls.

Prior to and after most functions (Chile and Frijoles Festival, B-Street Bash, the Parade of Lights, etc.) in the Union Avenue, Main Street area and the River Walk area the Streets Division will conduct sweeping operations. Our sweepers sweep the Colorado State Fairgrounds and the fairgrounds neighborhood nightly during the duration of the fair along with cleanup after the parades during the fair.

Street sweeping removes over 5,000 tons of debris and contaminants from the city of Pueblo streets every year.

Water Quality

Street sweeping helps to remove debris from the gutter that would be washed down the storm drain into our Storm water collection system and eventually into the river. This debris can block the catch basins and other stormwater facilities causing flooding during heavy rains.

Air Quality

Particulate matter from natural and manmade sources collect on the streets and pose respiratory health concerns. Street sweeping is done to reduce the amount of particulate matter residing along the street and the curb line. The sweeping operation creates some dust however the sweepers minimize this with a water spray system designed to keep this dust to a minimum.

Safety

Drivers can experience several safety concerns from even small debris on the roadways. longer braking distance, increased risk of skidding and loss of control, are among these concerns. Sweeping operations remove the debris from the roadway that contribute to these unsafe conditions for vehicle, motorcycle and cyclists in the City of Pueblo.

Public Notification

Unfortunately, with the exception of our dedicated Business/Night Route schedule, the City of Pueblo does not currently have the resources available, and to make the most efficient use of the resources available we cannot provide citywide, time certain information about our street sweeping schedule. Even with our limited resources we are however able to meet our objectives of providing a safe, and clean roadway system for the citizens of the City of Pueblo.

The following factors frequently disrupt our street sweeping schedule:

• Weather: rainfall, windstorms, snow and ice storms
• Equipment breakdowns
• Utility work by other agencies
• Private construction activities in the public right of way
• Other street maintenance and road repair activities
• How dirty the street is – extra debris in the street delays a crew
• Overhanging tree limbs that prohibit crews from getting to the curb to clean a street; sometimes overhanging limbs prohibit our sweepers and equipment from accessing a street
• Heavy leaf fall
• Employee emergencies – unexpected absences due to illness, family emergencies, or other emergencies