COVINGTON, Ky. - If you can’t find a spot to move your car while your side of the street is being swept, don’t worry - for the time being, you won’t get a parking ticket.

 

Mindful of the fact that daytime parking spots are harder to come by because many people are being told to work from home or stay home during the coronavirus pandemic, the City of Covington will temporarily suspend enforcement of parking restrictions related to street sweeping.

 

“We’re trying to be understanding of the pressures being placed on our residents in Covington during this crisis,” City Manager David Johnston said.

 

The City typically cleans its more visible commercial routes once a week throughout the year and its residential streets three times a year, starting April 1, said Troy McCain, supervisor of the General Maintenance Division in the Public Works Department.

 

“It’s a very necessary service,” he said. “It keeps litter and debris out of the drains, and it gets rid of stuff that attracts rodents and promotes diseases - not to mention making the city look cleaner.”

 

The City has two regenerative air sweepers - one for commercial routes and one for residential streets - that use brushes to sweep debris toward the underside middle of the truck, where it’s “vacuumed” and picked up. Ten spray nozzles help to keep down dust.

 

Normally, street sweepers clean the sides of a street on different days and signs direct car owners to park on the opposite side. Those who ignore the signs and block the sweeper normally risk getting a ticket. McCain said the street sweeper recently has had to maneuver around parked cars, but not as many as one might expect.

 

“Most of the residents have been moving their cars. They’ve told us they’re glad to see the street sweeper coming because they want their street cleaned, even during this time,” he said.

 

“As long as we can continue being effective, we’ll keep to our schedule as much as we can.”

 

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