Watch where you park as street sweeping begins Tuesday in Minneapolis

The annual fall chore of street sweeping is underway in St. Paul and begins Tuesday in Minneapolis.

That means drivers who park on city streets over the next several weeks should be on the lookout for temporary “No Parking” signs designating the day when their street will be cleaned.

Violators may be ticketed and towed to the city’s impound lot, an email advisory states.

The same parking advice applies for drivers in St. Paul, which began sweeping its 530 miles of residential streets last week.

In Minneapolis, pink “No Parking” signs will be posed on streets to be swept at least 24 hours in advance. Signs will specify which day of the week cleaning will take place. Parking on that day will be banned from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the day the street is swept, or until signs have been removed.

“People should not resume parking until the signs are removed,” the city’s advisory said, noting the effort takes several steps and that it might look like crews are done but are not.

“The ‘No Parking’ signs will be removed as soon as possible after a street has been completely swept to allow people to resume parking.”

The city issued more than 6,300 citations last fall and about 5,500 in the spring for vehicles left on the street during street sweeping operations, according to city data.

Violations come with a $45 fine, according to the Hennepin County District Court website.

About 2,900 vehicles were towed last fall and a little more than 3,000 were towed in the spring, the city said.

In St. Paul, “No Parking” signs will be posted 24-48 hours in advance on residential streets to alert vehicle owners to park elsewhere.

On the day of sweeping, parking is not allowed between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Like Minneapolis, the Capital City has an interactive map to show when streets will be swept.

With this year’s late growing season and a lack of a freeze as of Monday, trees have been slow to drop their leaves.

“Unfortunately, there is no perfect science to determine the optimal start time for sweeping, but our experience has shown that starting earlier helps ensure we can sweep all streets in St. Paul,” the city said in a statement.

Streets swept early in the process may get a second pass to pick up late falling leaves but that will depend on weather, budget and timing.

“Unfortunately, the oaks, maples, aspens and cottonwoods don’t all perfectly align their schedules,” the city said.