PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — COVID-19 caused a big gap between the first and second phases of Philadelphia’s street sweeping program. But on Monday, city officials announced Phase 2 of the Mechanical Street Cleaning project will get underway next week across four neighborhoods.
Streets Commissioner Carlton Williams said Phase 1, a six-month pilot in six neighborhoods back in 2019, was a success.
“We cleaned over 1,189 blocks. We removed over 971 tons of debris, cleaned over 13,000 miles of streets, and we collected significant amounts of litter and debris from the city’s most challenging neighborhoods,” he said.
But it was also a learning experience — some of the equipment didn’t fit down smaller streets, and the effort to avoid making people move their cars created other issues.
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So, Phase 2 will be different, using a hybrid of brooms and heavier equipment. Williams said he was so elated to get approval for the $62 million street sweeping expansion, he decided to launch it and build it simultaneously.
“We’re going to adjust logistically throughout the next couple of months to ensure that we’re delivering the service as promised,” he added.
Phase 2 of cleanup efforts begin on Monday, Aug. 9. Signs are going up now in the four pilot neighborhoods — North Central, Strawberry Mansion, South, and Southwest — warning residents about “no parking” zones on cleaning days.
Williams assured that there will be a grace period for enforcement.
“This is brand new to everyone, so we want to give time for adjustments,” he said.
Ten more neighborhoods will be phased in between now and November, with the ultimate goal of a citywide cleaning program.
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Williams acknowledges staff shortages have delayed basic trash removal over the last 16 months, but he said collections are back on schedule, the department has “staffed up,” and they are ready for Phase 2.
The program will operate Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. No-parking hours will be in two-hour intervals within that range: 9 to 11 a.m., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 1 to 3 p.m.
The first four pilot areas are:
North Central: Broad to 22nd streets, from Glenwood Avenue to Diamond Street
South Philly: McKean Street to Oregon Avenue, from Fourth to Eighth streets
Southwest: Woodland to Kingsessing avenues, from 49th Street to Cemetery Avenue
Strawberry Mansion: Diamond Avenue to Lehigh Street, from Sedgley to 33rd streets
Ten more neighborhoods will be phased in by November:
Frankford: Bridge Street to Adams Avenue, from Griscom Street to Torresdale Avenue
Germantown: Berkley Street to Chelten Avenue, from Pulaski Avenue to Wakefield Street
Kensington: Second Street to Kensington Avenue, from Tioga Street to Lehigh Avenue
Logan: Godfrey Avenue to Roosevelt Boulevard, from Broad to Fifth streets
Nicetown: Broad to Clarissa streets, from Hunting Park Avenue to Windrim Street
Paschall: 58th to 70th streets, from Greenway to Dicks avenues
Point Breeze: Christian to McKean streets, from Broad to 24th streets
Port Richmond: Kensington to Aramingo avenues, from Tioga Street to Lehigh Avenue
West Fairhill: Fifth to 13th streets, from Glenwood to Susquehanna avenues
West Philly: Parkside to Girard avenues, from 52nd to 40th streets