The black lines visible on the roads after a street cleaning are from liquid de-icer. The markings will fade naturally over time or when moisture hits them. (Action Line)
The black lines visible on the roads after a street cleaning are from liquid de-icer. The markings will fade naturally over time or when moisture hits them. (Action Line)

Dear Action Line,

I live on the north side of town and noticed the street sweeper yesterday. I assume it wouldn’t be running if we had snow on the streets, but there it was, driving up and down our residential streets picking up nonexistent debris leaving me with many questions:

What is the street cleaning schedule? Do they run every day and what are their routes? I’d love to be able to move my car ahead of time. What about when there is snow and ice on the streets?Why don’t they ask cars to move when the service is being provided? What are they actually cleaning? Can I leave leaves out there to be picked up?Why are there eight permanent lines of solution on the streets afterward? (See attached picture)

Thanks! Whack Kerouac

Dear Whack,

I didn’t get all your questions answered, but this is from Joey Medina, the city’s assistant public works director for operations:

“The street sweeper spotted by the reader was dispatched to clean up debris following a car accident. This included the bike lanes on 32nd Street and Florida Road to remove any debris that could pose a safety concern for cyclists. During the winter months, our sweepers are typically down for maintenance so they’re fully ready for spring operations. We make every effort to keep at least one sweeper available for public safety needs such as vehicle accidents or other urgent cleanup situations. As a side note for non-urgent cleanups, while it is easy for residents to blow their leaves into the street, we ask residents to please bag their leaves instead. They can use the on-demand leaf collection program in the fall, operated by Table to Farm Compost, which helps keep leaves out of the landfill. Looking ahead, our plan for 2026 is to dispatch one full time street sweeper beginning March 16 (weather permitting) to start our sweeping operations. About a month later, we will deploy the second sweeper. Sweeper routes can be found at the link below: https://durangoco.gov/DocumentCenter/View/35415. Lastly, the black lines visible on the roadway are from liquid de-icer. These markings will fade naturally over time or when moisture hits them.”

So, you could move your car on certain days, but what’s to prevent someone from taking your space and re-blocking it? When not thinking about the Roman Empire and other manly musings, I’ve wondered if less-frequent sweeping, but with cars moved, would be more effective, with those signs you see in big cities requiring you to not park on the street every third Tuesday of the months with “r”s in them or somesuch.

But then I’ve thought maybe better to not big-citify Durango with such complicated rules – the current method doesn’t sweep all the spots all the time but eventually sweeps most of the spots some of the time, unless someone parks an RV in front of your house for the season, which is a whole other problem that may or may not need fixing (see Herald, Feb. 17).

Email questions and suggestions to [email protected] or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. Today’s Fun Fact: Roman streets were notoriously filthy, with plebeians and patricians alike throwing their waste (household and human) into the street. There were no street sweepers employed by the municipium, but those who could afford it would pay someone to have it done. Urine, however, was collected in jars by “fullers,” who aged it and used it to launder clothes. Rome eventually developed the Cloaca Maxima, an open channel sewer (later covered), which became one of the best-known sanitation artifacts of the ancient world. “Cloaca” translates to “sewer” and is now best known as the term used for a bird’s all-purpose opening for both excretion and reproduction.