Street Cleaning

Residential streets will be signed prior to street cleaning activity. When residents observe the signs, they must remove all vehicles, ramps and obstacles from the road to assist the street cleaning equipment:

• Please move vehicles and obstacles (basketball hoops, gutter ramps etc.) off of road and onto your private property. 
• If crews have to go around obstacles, the area may remain dirty until crews have time to come back (if they have time).

When street cleaning is scheduled and where maintenance routes exist, parking bans will be declared notifying area residents of the scheduled cleaning activities. When parking bans are declared, please remove vehicles and all obstructions from the road. The Town will try to provide 48 hours notice.

When a parking ban is declared, it’s time to make temporary arrangements to park your vehicle elsewhere. Parking alternatives include:

• Driveways
• Garages
• A shared parking space with a neighbor or friend
• Public Parking Lots

On-street parking may also be available along primary and secondary routes when crews are cleaning residential streets.

No. Parking in alleys is not permitted, as per Bylaw 10/10. Alleys exist only for emergency response vehicle access.

No. Your street may appear to have been swept, but further maintenance may be required.

Communities that are new construction are the responsibility of the developer to maintain. Please contact your developer for all roads-related inquiries, including street cleaning.

If there are no signs indicating a parking ban, the crew will sweep around the vehicles. If there are vehicles parked on a street during a parking ban, we generally do not return to an area once it has been cleaned. The area where the vehicle was parked will remain dirty.

If there is sand and gravel on your sidewalk or boulevard, you may sweep it onto the road before the street cleaners pass by.

Not to worry. Scheduling crews do their best to schedule cleaning in areas on non-waste collection days; however, this is not always avoided. Should your area be scheduled for cleaning on your waste collection day, place your carts out as usual. Transportation crews will monitor these areas when cleaning is underway and will move carts if needed to allow the sweeper to pass by.

Street Cleaning signs are placed at the main intersections of residential areas during spring clean-up. If you see a street sweeping sign as you enter your neighborhood, the Town of Okotoks is in your residential area and your vehicles must be off the street.

You can assist the Town by removing your vehicle from the street before the sweepers arrive and by sweeping gravel off your sidewalk and driveway. Please remove ramps or other obstructions from the gutter in front of your driveway to allow the sweeper to properly clean the gutter.

During the initial spring cleaning efforts, the Town’s crews will endeavor to gather as much road debris as possible when they are in a particular area.  While crews strive to do their best, some road gravel is inevitably left behind after they move on to the next identified area.  The Town’s sweeper does run year round and should the public notice areas that were missed during the initial spring cleaning efforts,  please contact Transportation at the number below. 

Please ensure there are no obstructions in the gutter in front of your driveway.  Any ramps or overhanging objects (basketball hoops) should be removed so the street can be adequately cleaned.   

The Town of Okotoks Transportation department is responsible for ensuring the transportation network is kept in good order and that it remains in a safe condition for all users.  One unique aspect of our Town is the use of our street sweeper year round including the winter months when it is safe to do so. Often times, road gravel that is spread on streets during and following snow events and over the course of the winter will over time eventually be displaced to the sides of the road.  This is especially the case along our main roads where more gravel is cast further away into parking lanes and boulevard areas by vehicles traveling at higher speeds.  As gravel accumulations in these areas are generally no longer useful for snow and ice control, the street sweeper will be mobilized during dry spells in the winter to perform dry sweeps in these areas.  

We have found that not only is this an effective means to keeping gravel and other unwanted sediments out of the storm drainage systems, this activity also greatly speeds up our cleaning efforts when we are engaged with major cleaning programs done later in the spring.  We have also found that proactively keeping waste and other debris out of the storm sewer year round helps prevent storm sewer blockages, damage to the storm sewer system, and minimizes potential for overland flooding especially during high runoff events.  

The public is reminded to proceed cautiously when driving behind or passing any roadway maintenance equipment.  The public's assistance in this regard ensures that our operators can effectively and safely operate road maintenance equipment. 

In the spring time, major cleaning events are scheduled typically from mid-April to end of June (weather permitting) to facilitate the removal of accumulated gravel left over from the previous winter.  When major cleaning events are scheduled and where maintenance routes exist, parking bans will be declared notifying area residents of the scheduled roadway cleaning activities. When parking bans are declared, vehicles and all obstructions must be removed from the roadway. The Town will try to provide 48 hours notice.