Here's How Street Sweeping Will Happen In Worcester This Spring

WORCESTER, MA — Worcester's annual spring street sweeping program will begin in April, which means cleaner roads and gutters — but also the possibility you'll get ticketed or towed.

Street sweeping begins on April 1, and will roll across the city based on what day your trash collection happens. In 2024, the street sweeping will occur first in neighborhoods that have Monday pickup.

Sweeping will then progress to neighborhoods with Tuesday pickup, then Friday, then Thursday and finally through Wednesday pickup neighborhoods. The sweeping will happen on weekdays, approximately from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and will take about six weeks.

Like the fall leaf collection, car owners will have to move their vehicles when sweepers move through neighborhoods. The city will put up signs shortly before the sweepers come.

"In order to completely sweep any street, sweepers require access to the curb area and cars cannot be left on streets. Vehicles that interfere with street sweeping will be ticketed and may be towed and returned after the street has been swept. There is a $50 fine for cars that interfere with street sweeping," DPW Commissioner Jay Fink say in a memo to city councilors this week.

But unlike the fall leaf collection, street sweepers won't collect yard waste like sticks, leaves and brush. But residents can sweep any sand leftover from snow season and other small debris from the sidewalk into the gutter for collection.

Check the city's street sweeping page for updates on the progress of the program through April and May.