Even residents with parking permits can get a ticket, the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure warns. However. Denver residents can get text and email alerts about when their street will be swept by signing up for notifications.
Last year, the City of Denver issued more than 150,000 tickets for cars violating street sweeping rules. With tickets at $50, Denver could have reeled in as much as $7.5 million, but DOTI has yet to share how much the city collected in 2023, spokesperson Nancy Kuhn says.
If you get a parking ticket, you have twenty days to pay the fine after the ticket is issued. The only way to contest a street sweeping ticket in Denver is by filing a dispute online or by calling 1-866-280-9988 on Monday to Friday between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Unpaid tickets before the deadline are considered delinquent and the fine is doubled. Outstanding citations can also be referred to a collection agency, but a person is eligible for a parking boot once they reach three unpaid citations of any kind.
Street sweeping trucks drive through each area on scheduled dates, but drivers should avoid parking in restricted areas whether they see a boxy mechanical street sweeping trucks coming by or not, Kuhn says. Not only can drivers still get a ticket, but trucks may return later even if it looks like they finished sweeping.
"We highly encourage people to abide by the no-parking signs on their block on their street sweeping day and during the hours indicated to avoid a sweeping ticket," Kuhn says. "We sweep most days and even if it appears a sweeper has cleaned the street, it’s still important not to park during the restricted times posted, because the sweeper may need to return to the area."
Street Sweeping Safety Steps
Posted sweeping is Tuesday through Friday, which is why street sweeping season starts on Tuesday, April 2 instead of Monday, April 1, Kuhn says. Good neighbors will put up makeshift signs and post on social media to remind people as well. The city has towed cars for free for certain Capital Hill residents as part of a "special sweeping effort," Kuhn says, but will still hand out the $50 street sweeping fine for being in the way.
The website SpotAngels allows people to look up their addresses and find out when street sweeping is scheduled to take place in their neighborhood.
Street sweeping clears dust and debris from curbs to clear the way for stormwater to travel toward the sewers. Last year, street sweepers cleared enough dirt and debris from Denver's curbs "to fill fifteen Olympic-size swimming pools or fill a football field more than 23 feet high with dirt," according to DOTI.
The $50 fine for street sweeping hasn't increased since 2011.
