City outlines multi‑phase plan to optimize street‑sweeping routes; software pilot and consultant phase set to finish June 2026
Loading...
Summary
The Office of Street Services briefed the council on a multi‑phase optimization of street‑sweeping routes, citing staffing shortfalls, use of routing software (Loadsmart), target dates for phases and a planned budget request for phase three.
The council received a verbal update from the Office of Street Services on a multi‑phase effort to optimize street‑sweeping routes, improve efficiency and reduce impacts on residents. Presenters described completed data work, a software pilot, staffing shortfalls and a timeline that places a consultant‑assisted optimization phase through June 2026.
Present Gotney (identified in the meeting) and Tony Lee of the Office of Street Services’ Advanced Planning group led the briefing. They said the office manages published sweep routes and open routes across the city, described how many published routes are currently swept biweekly while open routes are swept monthly, and attributed reduced frequency in part to operator retirements and a long‑running staffing shortfall. They said the department historically had up to 75 sweep operators; staffing is now lower and vacancy and retirement trends reduced capacity.
The office reported that phase one (data cleanup and software selection) is complete and that the city selected routing software called Loadsmart to help redraw and optimize routes. Phase two, described as consultant‑assisted optimization of published routes, is scheduled to finish in June 2026. Phase three would expand optimized published routes into larger portions of the city and would require community outreach, coordination with council offices and additional resources for outreach and operations. Staff said they plan to request funds in the next budget cycle for phase three outreach and implementation.
Presenters also discussed operational details and tradeoffs: optimizing routes will require coordination with parking policies, enforcement schedules and other city services; some neighborhoods will need targeted outreach and temporary parking restrictions; and the office aims to limit resident disruption by better coordinating sweep times and notices. Councilmembers asked about enforcement timing, signs and coordination with traffic enforcement to reduce citations during changes; staff said those topics would be part of community outreach and the phase‑three planning.
No formal action or vote occurred on this item; staff said they would return during the budget process with funding requests and more detailed timelines.
