DATE: MAY 13, 2025
DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC WORKS
FROM: DAVID JACOBS, DIRECTOR
BY: HEIDI NIGGEMEYER, NPDES PROGRAM MANAGER
TITLE: UPDATE ON NEW STREET SWEEPING ROUTES AND PARKING RESTRICTIONS/SIGNAGE TO IMPROVE STREET SWEEPING EFFECTIVENESS RECOMMENDED MOTION:
No action is required. This is an administrative update.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The City is required to revise and implement an effective street sweeping program via parking restrictions to be in compliance with its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) stormwater permit issued in 2019. The City’s current street sweeping routes were introduced in 2012, sweeping both sides of the street on the same day; street sweeping could be significantly more effective at removing debris by revising routes to sweep opposite curb sides on different days and including parking restrictions on high and medium priority streets to ensure the sweeper has full curb access to remove debris. Comprehensive road condition and curb access data was collected across the City to identify key considerations for route revisions and designating areas to initial No Parking signage. New street sweeping routes were designed and tested by City maintenance staff, and certain routes were selected for parking restrictions based on data collected to date. The costs to install No Parking signage in the initial area and purchase equipment and software for the routing program were paid for via ARPA funds. To ensure the City maintains compliance with the NPDES permit, staff recommended that City Council approve the new street sweeping routes and installation of parking restrictions in the initial chosen area, and appropriate funds for the required signage, sweeper software, and equipment.
BACKGROUND:
Street sweeping is an effective method to reduce trash, debris and other pollutants from reaching local waterways. As such, the past two NPDES stormwater permits have mandated the City of Salinas to enhance its street sweeping program to optimize pollutant removal from streets (2019 Order R3-2019-0073, 2012 Order R3-2012-0005). Currently the street sweeping program has 30 unique routes and sweeps all City-maintained streets at least twice a month, with two routes on heavily trafficked commercial roads swept weekly. However, the current routes sweep both sides of the street on the same day, often resulting in the sweeper just driving down the middle of the street due to parked cars. Already in the 2025 permit reporting year (Oct 24 – April 25), street sweepers have removed more than 1,100 tons of debris from City streets. Although the current practices remove considerable debris from Salinas streets, the sweeping effectiveness can be significantly improved by revising the routes to sweep on alternate days and increasing curb access where pollutants and trash accumulate. The 2019 NPDES permit mandates the City to improve its overall street sweeping effectiveness by implementing parking restrictions on high and medium priority streets to ensure the sweeper has full access to the curb. Per the current NPDES Permit (Section M.6.c.ii):
“Parking restrictions – By the end of Year 3, the Permittee shall revise and commence implementation of its parking restriction strategy, including parking restrictions and public outreach, to ensure that street sweepers can access and sweep gutters for all High and Medium Priority streets and to increase the effectiveness of sweeping operations for the entire roadway width. By the end of Year 5, the Permittee shall complete implementation of the revised parking restrictions.” Beginning in 2017, City staff and street sweeper operators implemented several studies to collect road debris and curb access data across all existing streets. Data collected in these efforts illustrated areas in greatest need of parking restrictions based on two criteria: poor curb access and high rates of road debris accumulation at the curb. City streets were prioritized based on these criteria. The data collected was entered into 2NForm, our stormwater information system, and this data was mapped to geospatially show the areas where the high priority streets are located (see slides 13-15 in presentation). Those with the worst curb access and high trash accumulation rate at the curb were rated as High Priority (darker colored streets). The remaining streets were ranked according to the same criteria to determine Medium and Low Priority streets. In Year 5 (2023/2024), we began revision of street sweeping routes and community outreach regarding the upcoming changes to the street sweeping routes and potential No Parking signage. We are now in Year 6 of our permit (2024/2025) and are implementing No Parking signage in an initial high priority area. A community engagement effort addressing street sweeping signage in the Monte Bella community in 2022 showed residents wished to spread the parking restrictions over a two-day period to accommodate moving of vehicles to the opposite side of the street on the designated street sweeping day. The City, therefore, redesigned its current routes to sweep opposite curb sides on different days to meet the NPDES sweeping effectiveness requirement with minimized impact to residents.
Our Stormwater Analyst designed new routes using RouteSmart software. The software facilitates efficient and geographically balanced route development, servicing opposite curbs on different days. In total, the redesigned routes include 22 unique routes that maintain the same sweeping frequency on all roads that are currently swept (Attachment 1). All routes have been test-driven by Public Works staff and have been modified to address any issues with route modeling to ensure routes minimize cross traffic left turns and provide safe U-turns.
As instructed by the 2019 NPDES permit, parking restrictions must be implemented on high priority routes by Year 5. The City is behind in meeting the parking restriction timeline because the City has invested in data collection and public outreach to successfully roll out the new street sweeping program with parking restrictions and route signage requires a significant monetary resources. A CIP has been set up to facilitate the signage of a new high priority route each fiscal year. The City has utilized the best available data to select an initial area to implement parking restrictions. Data collected to date illustrates areas in greatest need of parking restrictions based on two criteria: poor curb access and high rates of road debris accumulation. City staff selected an east Alisal neighborhood, where data show curb access is low and road debris is high, for an initial effort to implement parking restrictions (Attachment 2). The designated signage area will allow staff to observe the effectiveness of the program on water quality by collecting samples at an existing monitoring outfall in the drainage area.
Costs to sign the initial routes were estimated by the City’s traffic division. An RFQ process was utilized to obtain a contractor to fabricate and install the signage. No Parking signs are being placed a minimum of 200 feet apart in the initial area to notify motorists of the street sweeping schedule. The Monte Bella neighborhood included in the initial routes is already signed with parking restrictions, reducing the number of signs needed to be installed and the overall cost of implementation. The fabrication and installation of the No Parking signage and street sweeper electronic equipment cost approximately $600,000. ARPA funds were used to pay for this effort.
The City began a public outreach effort about the revised street sweeping program. Beginning in 2023, City staff attended tabling events, created social media content and blogs about the importance of street sweeping, and conducted door knocking in District 2 near Closter Park (located in the initial signage area). The tables below summarize the three outreach phases, and the digital and in person outreach events conducted to date since the street sweeping outreach program’s inception (January 2023 through March 31, 2025). Additional statistics are provided in Attachment 3.
Street Sweeping Program Outreach and Education Phases
Phase I
Phase II
Phase III
2023 – Completed
2024 – Completed
2025 – In Progress
Convene, Collaborate, and Capacity Building for Citywide Education and Engagement Educate and Motivate through Citywide Education and Engagement Campaign Deploy and Activate Targeted Outreach and Engagement in Affected Neighborhoods Street Sweeping Program Digital and Analog Media Engagement (January 2023 – March 2025) Activity
Description
Reach/Rate/Rank
Social Media Posts
Designed and published 70+ social media posts
341,631 impressions
Social Media Engagement Rate
Engagement rate measures content resonance with audience (industry average: 1.15% - 3.0)
5.2%
Website Content
Created street sweeping content and 12 blog articles and posted to cleanwatersalinas.com (tracking began January 2024 – March 2025) 8,586 page views
Website Statistics
Street sweeping page rank on the cleanwatersalinas.com (Google Analytics as of March 31, 2025) 1st
Survey Form
Digital/paper forms to collect cell phone numbers at in-person events for City alerts about street sweeping 326 sign ups
Other Collateral
Bilingual educational flyers, 30 and 60 second public service announcement video, postcards. ~2229 people
Mailer
Postcard w/initial signage routes sent to residents in signage area ~4,200 people
Earned Media
Media features on street sweeping campaign kickoff (KSBW and KION) and Clean Water Salinas at Ciclovia (Univision 2x), La Paz Park Clean Up (Monterey County Weekly) 5 features
Street Sweeping Program Direct Public Outreach Engagement (January 2023 – March 2025) Activity
Description
Contact Information Collected
Reach
Kickoff Event at Closter Park
(June 2023)
Salinas Streets Shine Together Campaign Kickoff with tabling 12 ~100 booth visitors
Community Clean-up at La Paz Park
(September 2023)
Clean-up and tabling event
40 ~100 booth visitors
Ciclovia
(October 2023)
Tabled at community event
115
~500 booth visitors
150th Anniversary Celebration
(April 2024)
Tabled at community event
25 ~100 booth visitors
Door Knocking
(July 2024)
Door to door knocking in City Council District 2
45 ~80 in-person conversations
El Grito Parade and Festival 2-Day Event
(September 2024)
Conducted outreach along parade route (Day 1) and face-to-face outreach at event (Day 2) 30 ~1,100
Ciclovia
(October 2024)
Tabled at annual event
59 ~250
Street Sweeping Program Community-Based Organizations/Key Stakeholder Engagement (January 2023 – March 2025) Organizations
Building Health Communities
Center for Community Action
Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indígena Oaxqueño
Ecology Action
La Cooperativa Campensina de California
MILPA Collective
Monterey County Farm Bureau
Mujeres en Acción
United Farm Workers
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas’ District Staff
State Senator Anna Caballero’s District Staff
State Senator John Laird and District Staff
Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo
*Outreach to expand to local schools, churches, and other key stakeholders located in affected area in 2025.
On September 12, 2024, the Traffic & Transportation Commission unanimously recommended the City Council approve the new street sweeping routes, the initial routes for signage, and the appropriation of ARPA funds to fabricate and install signs per the Sign Plan provided by the Traffic Division – Public Works. With Council approval of the new sweeping routes and the initial signage routes on October 8, 2024 (Attachments 1 & 2), the City deployed a targeted outreach and engagement effort in the affected neighborhoods. Outreach efforts notified residents of the new parking restrictions and new sweeping routes with fliers and a coordinated notification system sending text messages directly to subscribed residents. Outreach is also being performed via social media and the CleanWaterSalinas website (Attachment 3).
In addition, Public Works is coordinating with the Salinas Police Department to prepare for the start of these new routes. This includes increasing abandoned vehicle enforcement along the new route and the development of a warning citation to be issued in the first months of the new route. The warning citation will give the community a grace period to adjust to the new route. The increased abandoned vehicle enforcement will provide improved access to the curbs for the street sweepers.
CEQA CONSIDERATION:
The City of Salinas has determined that the project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines (Section 15301, Class 1(c)) because the actions consist of minor alterations of existing City streets via signage.
CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLIES:
No
STRATEGIC PLAN INITIATIVE:
The proposed project and agreement meet the City Council’s Strategic Plan Initiative of Infrastructure and Environmental Sustainability. Redesigned street sweeping routes and No Parking signs will improve the condition of local streets and utilize modern techniques to build climate resilience. A strategic street sweeping program supports this initiative by removing debris and pollution thereby improving the street appearance as well as improving water quality and reducing flood risk.
DEPARTMENTAL COORDINATION:
Public Works advanced this project through coordination with Traffic and Parking Enforcement with additional input from Public Relations to ensure that the public is engaged. Parking enforcement is provided in coordination with a parking enforcement contractor (LAZ) for warning tickets/citations and the Police Department for all potential towing issues.
FISCAL AND SUSTAINABILITY IMPACT:
The total estimated cost for the implementation of the signage program was $600,000 to pay for the fabrication and installation of No Parking signs within the affected neighborhoods, as well as software to revise routes and navigation equipment needed for the street sweepers. The expenses were paid from ARPA funds appropriated to the Green Infrastructure Project (3911.50.8192) in Public Works.
Fund
Appropriation
Appropriation
Name
Total Appropriation
Amount for recommendation
FY 24-25 Operating Budget Page
Last Budget Action (Date, Resolution)
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
ATTACHMENTS:
City Council Presentation- Street Sweeping Route Revisions and Initial Signage Program Update Attachment 1 – Redesigned City Sweeping Routes
Attachment 2 – Initial Signage Routes
Attachment 3 – 2023-25 Street Sweeping Education Outreach Campaign Stats Page | 3
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