City launches street sweeping pilot program in 6 neighborhoods

In an ongoing effort to clean Philly streets and rid the city of its “filadelphia” reputation, Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration launched a street sweeping program this week.

The pilot program, which started Tuesday, will run through November, focusing on sweeping six city neighborhoods:

• West Philadelphia, from Parkside to Lancaster avenues, and from 52nd Street to Girard Avenue
• Southwest Philly, from Woodland to Kingsessing avenues, and from 49th Street to Cemetery Avenue.
• Kensington, from 2nd Street to Frankford Avenue, and from Tioga Street to Lehigh Avenue.
• Strawberry Mansion, from Sedgley Street to Lehigh Avenue, and from 29th to 33rd streets.
• Logan, from Godfrey Avenue to Roosevelt Boulevard, and from Broad to 5th streets.
• South Philly, from McKean Street to Oregon Avenue and from 4th to 8th streets.

The street sweeping plan was first announced during Kenney’s five-year budget proposal last month, during which he said the city would spend $2.3 million over the next year on the project, and $11.7 million over the next five years. The estimated cost of additional personnel is $429,000 for this year, and the cost of mechanical brooms is about $280,000 per vehicle, according to a statement from the city.

While Kenney and Council members hope to eventually expand the program, they said these six neighborhoods were chosen for the first year of street sweeping after an analysis of the city’s Litter Index.

“We identified the areas of the city where mechanical cleaning will be most effective,” Managing Director Brian Abernathy said in a statement.

Weekly street sweeping will go into effect the day after regular trash pickup in each pilot neighborhood. Workers will use back pack blowers and hand brooms to clean each route, followed by mechanical brooms.

Residents wont be required to move their cars, but officials are hoping they will anyway.