Around the Arch Blog

Making it easier for area residents to know when their street is scheduled to be swept, the Reno City Council approved a Street Sweeping Program. By providing residents with a sweeping schedule, residents have the opportunity to remove their parked vehicles from the street on their scheduled sweeping day. Removing vehicles from the street is not required but it gives residents the chance to move them and improve the cleanliness of their own neighborhood.

The Street Sweeping Program will function on a seasonal basis from April through October. Routes will be swept between 6:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Holidays will be handled by having the routes swept on the next working day. All routes have been coordinated with Waste Management to avoid having garbage and recycle pick up occurring the same day as sweeping for the individual neighborhoods.

The City of Reno performs street sweeping though its Public Works Department and is required through Air Quality standards to sweep every street at least once per month. There are four separate sweeping operations performed throughout the year:

Routine Sweeping – General debris removal and cleaning of streets on a monthly rotational cycle.

Leaf Sweeping – Removal of leaves and other debris in the late Fall of each year.

Winter Sweeping – Removal of sand/salt material and other debris from roadways after snow events.

Special Event/Accident Sweeping – Occasional sweeping of parade routes and special events as well as specific calls for service to sweep up after accidents for safety purposes.

Streets Maintenance, a section of Public Works, provides equipment and staffing for the operations and maintenance of the City of Reno streets. They are dedicated to providing the City of Reno with safe, clean streets. For more information about the City of Reno’s Street Sweeping Program, schedule and route map, visit www.cityofreno.com  under “Quick Links.”

The City of Reno is the first in northern Nevada to allow the use of the eco-friendly product which has been successfully used on over 200 projects throughout the United States.

Granite Construction, the general contractor, is producing and placing the warm mix asphalt (WMA) and reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). These materials help reduce the potential for cracking, increase pavement life, plus are beneficial for the environment. The WMA technology Granite Construction uses reduces production temperatures at the asphalt plant. Traditional hot mix asphalt is usually produced at temperatures from 280-340 degrees Fahrenheit while WMA produces lower temperatures from 215-275 degrees Fahrenheit. The reduction in temperatures reduces the amount of fuel usage, which results in decreased emissions. In addition, it has been observed that as production temperatures decrease (below 275 degrees), the blue smoke associated with hot-mix asphalt essentially disappears making the air quality during placement of the asphalt improved for the public as well as the construction personnel. RAP reclaims old pavement and mixes it with fresh, new materials producing a new asphalt pavement. The old pavement is reactivated, becoming part of the new pavement and replacing some of the new material that would otherwise be required.