Fall street sweeping underway in Minneapolis and St. Paul

White temporary "No Parking" signs are popping up on Minneapolis and St. Paul streets. Why? Both cities this week began their annual fall street sweeping.

Over the next four weeks, crews in Minneapolis will clean more than 1,000 miles of streets and 400 miles of alleys to pick up leaves and debris. The city will post "No Parking" signs on streets to be swept at least 24 hours before vehicles must be moved. On the day a street is swept, parking will prohibited between 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or until signs have been removed.

The city also will use social media to spread the word by posting reminders on Facebook and on Twitter. It also will place automated phone calls to residents the night before their street is scheduled to be swept.

An interactive schedule is posted at www.minneapolismn.gov/streetsweeping, which lists the days and weeks that neighborhood streets will be swept.

Homeowners are reminded not to push grass clippings, leaves or debris into city streets.

In St. Paul, parking signs also will go up 24 hours before a street is to be swept. On the day cleaners come through, parking will be banned from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. or until signs are removed.

The city sweeps 340 miles of primary streets about eight times a year between April and October. Residential streets and alleys are swept twice a year, in early spring and fall. Crews began cleaning the 530 miles of residential streets and 330 miles of alleys on Monday and will be on the job until Nov. 22.