Saint Paul Begins Annual Residential Fall Sweep on October 19

SAINT PAUL, MN – Beginning Monday, October 19, 2026, Saint Paul Public Works will begin its annual fall residential street sweeping operations. City crews will sweep approximately 530 miles of residential streets throughout the City. Street sweeping operations are expected to take up to six weeks, weather permitting. This year, where scheduling has allowed, street sweeping efforts have been coordinated in neighborhoods as to not occur on garbage and recycling collection days.

Street sweeping is an important city service that not only removes dirt and garbage from the streets, but also clears additional organic debris such as leaves, dirt, and grass clippings from entering Saint Paul’s storm sewer system. This protects the city’s storm sewer system and prevents excess debris from entering and polluting our streams, lakes, and rivers.

“Every year we get complaints from residents about their neighbors who are raking leaves into the street,” said Deb Barber, Director of Saint Paul Public Works. “Please spread the word that putting anything into the street is illegal and counterproductive to keeping unwanted materials from going into and polluting our lakes and river.” 

Saint Paul Public Works reminds businesses and residents what they should do to help the citywide sweeping efforts:

• Move vehicles and follow all posted temporary “No Parking” signs. The city will post temporary “No Parking” signs at least 24 hours in advance of sweeping operations. Vehicles parked in areas with “No Parking” signs could be ticketed and towed.
• Follow all posted overnight “No Parking” signs. Many of the city’s arterial streets, including downtown, have posted signs that are in effect year-round, indicating an overnight timeframe and/or days that residents are not allowed to park on the street. These overnight “sanitation bans” allows sweeping crews to safely do maintenance operations on busy streets when it is less busy with traffic. Residents are encouraged to look around their neighborhood for these overnight no parking signs and move their vehicles accordingly. 
• Do not push any materials, including leaves, grass, or debris into the street. Please properly bag and dispose of any leaves, dirt, and grass clippings. Residents can take materials to Ramsey County compost sites, use their residential yard waste services, or if the resident is part of the Citywide Garbage Service, they can put out compostable yard waste bags with their garbage service to be collected at $4.25 per bag.
• Do not put garbage or recycling carts in the street. Please make sure carts are only placed on the boulevard, not the street.
• Adopt A Drain. Residents can help protect our waterways by adopting a storm drain in their neighborhood. By adopting a storm drain (or two), these residents promise to help keep it free of debris in the coming months. Learn more at www.stpaul.gov/adoptadrain.

There are many factors that impact when we start our fall sweeping operations, but foremost is that we have a very short window between when leaves begin to fall and when the first snow or freeze may occur. There is no perfect science to determine the optimal start time for sweeping as leaves fall from different trees at different times, but experience has shown that starting in October helps ensure all streets in Saint Paul are swept prior to any freezing weather that can impact the quality and ability to sweep.

Saint Paul Public Works sweeps all 530 miles of residential streets twice a year, once in the spring and another in the fall. Approximately 340 miles of arterial (main) streets are typically swept six to eight times each year between April and October.

For more information, including a map and schedule about Saint Paul’s street sweeping operations, visit www.stpaul.gov/sweep. 

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