"Street Cleaning. Even side Tuesday. Odd side Wednesday," reads one of the unsung heroes' makeshift posters, pinned by a rock on her sidewalk steps in Congress Park.
Numerous handmade signs like these can be found scattered across the Mile High City, along with social media reminders from other concerned citizens — and even apartment companies.
"Street sweeping in Denver is back. Avoid a $50 citation!" said Cornerstone Apartments in an April 3 Instagram Reel. "Check the signs on your block to know when your streets are going to be swept, and remember to move your car," the company added on Twitter.
Real estate agent Dominic Atencio, who posted a public reminder on Facebook, says he's been a victim of annoying street-sweeping fines in the past and wanted to spread the word about this year's season to help people avoid "unnecessary" tickets from the city.
"About 20 years ago, I racked up enough street-sweeping tickets that my car got booted the day before a vacation," Atencio tells Westword. "With remote jobs increasing, more people have their cars in front of their homes all day, and it can be easy to forget to move your car."
Over on Reddit, one concerned citizen posted a generous "public service announcement" the weekend before street sweeping started, warning r/Denver users that city ticketing agents would be primed and waiting.
"As I usually forget about this, I thought it would be helpful to remind everyone that enforcement for parking for street sweeping starts in a few days," said Redditor u/dedlewamp. One grateful user replied, "Thanks for the heads up. Looking forward to the annual deluge of posts here from people who get tickets claiming it's not fair/unacceptable to get tickets/how to fight marked and posted signage."
Many people, especially on Reddit, say they usually forget about street sweeping because they never move their car all year — or they figure that at least four inches of snow means no enforcement.
One Redditor claimed they moved their vehicle to another street once to avoid tickets, but just ended up with two tickets instead. "I forgot to move my car, went out at 9:30 a.m. and found a ticket, moved it a street over, forgot about it for a day and found another ticket bc that street sweeping for the street I moved it to was the day after the street I'd already been ticketed on," said u/WitaPEEIMP. "I was not pleased with myself."
Others shared horror stories in which tickets appeared as soon as 8:02 a.m., just two minutes after street sweeping is scheduled to start — and similar situations right before the cleaning ends.
"Don't let a ticket in the morning fool you," warned u/DankKnightLP. "They will ticket you 2 minutes before the period ends as well! Move those vehicles!"
According to Denver's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, residents are required to move their cars "so the sweepers can reach all the way to the curb line where dirt accumulates. The removal of debris also prevents storm sewer inlets from getting clogged." The season runs from April to November.
"Don't let a ticket in the morning fool you," warned u/DankKnightLP. "They will ticket you 2 minutes before the period ends as well! Move those vehicles!"
According to Denver's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, residents are required to move their cars "so the sweepers can reach all the way to the curb line where dirt accumulates. The removal of debris also prevents storm sewer inlets from getting clogged." The season runs from April to November.
