Montgomery County Completes Yearly Street Sweeping Operations

Header--Montgomery County, Maryland. Press Releases

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Contact: Esther Bowring, 240-777-6530
Lewis Cutsail, 240-777-7634

For Immediate Release (July 19, 1999)

Montgomery County Completes
Yearly Street Sweeping Operations

Montgomery County recently completed a street-sweeping program that cleaned approximately 2,000 miles of County roads and removed nearly 1,700 tons of debris.

Removing salt and sand abrasives, and other debris left behind on road surfaces after the winter snow season significantly reduces the flow of these pollutants into local tributaries and, eventually, into the Chesapeake Bay. Because the regional drought has substantially reduced water levels in all streams, street-sweeping efforts will protect the environment to an even greater extent this year. According to County officials, street-sweeping also helps to reduce infrastructure maintenance costs by keeping drainage systems clear and neighborhoods clean.

The County Department of Public Works and Transportation's Division of Highway Services contracted with Reilly Sweeping, Inc. to conduct the cleanup operations at a cost of about $300,000. The effort, which covers 90 percent of County-maintained roadways being swept, was completed within budget and on schedule. The remaining 10 percent of roadways are either within business districts and swept by another department, or are rural, rustic or open roads for which sweeping would serve no practical purpose.

"Roads were badly in need of a cleanup in the aftermath of the January ice storm and other winter weather incidents," said Al Genetti, Director of the Department of Public Works and Transportation. "We want to extend our thanks to the citizens of Montgomery County for their cooperation and patience during sweeping operations."

The Division of Highway Services is accepting citizen comments on the street-sweeping program that will help guide future operations. Residents can call 240-777-ROAD to express their views.

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