Street Sweeper Dodges Untowed Cars

That parking space looked big enough for maybe a sedan. But a city street sweeper?

Robert Roberts was undaunted. He’d been here before.

Roberts was high up behind the wheel Thursday of an Elgin Pelican, one of the public works department’s mechanical broom street sweepers.

It was day one of the spring street-sweeping season— and round two of a new city effort to ticket cars instead of towing them.

Roberts, assigned to Fair Haven and Wooster Square for the day, was going the extra step of hitting spots beyond the official route, in this case a spot between two cars on an alley that hadn’t been posted for cleaning.

In less experienced hands, it’s hard to imagine the Pelican maneuevering into the space. Roberts managed to swiveled his truck in and out of a parking space, and around a delivery truck, to clear the road of trash and dead leaves.

“It does make it harder for us,” Roberts acknowledged with a shrug.

Mayor Justin Elicker announced the city’s new ticketing policy this past summer: He got rid of costly and frustrating towing of cars illegally parked in the path of street sweepers. But he raised the ticketing fees to $100, with the hope of still discouraging owners from leaving cars in the way.

When the city first implemented the policy last fall, there were cars everywhere. Despite the occasional blockage, Roberts was surprised to see far fewer cars parked in his path on Thursday.

“I’m amazed. There are hardly any cars. They must have really got the word out,” Roberts said.

Overall, it will take a while to gauge the citywide impact of the new policy. The city ticketed a total of 108 cars on Thursday, according to city transit chief Doug Hausladen. That’s more than the department used to send to tow companies in a day during street sweeping. ​“It’s hard to judge, because it’s the first week and a relatively new policy,” Hausladen said.

Robert Roberts, who’s 60 years old, has been driving street sweepers going on 15 years. He has worked for the city for almost 19 years, working his way up to his current role as one of the most veteran drivers.

Thick mustache hidden under a blue surgical mask, Roberts pointed out the clean swath of road the sweepers had just finished. The only sign of the row of trucks was wet tire tracks and the absence of the leaves and trash that had been there before.

This view is what motivates Roberts.

“I wanted to try driving when I was a laborer,” Roberts said. ​“Now, you see the results and it makes you feel good.”

On Thursday, Roberts was driving one of the city’s The Elgin Pelican broom sweepers. It wasn’t the newest in the city’s collection. Instead, this truck was a little broken in, like a comfortable shoe, Roberts explained. The steering wheel and tires all turn smoothly and easily, compared with the tight machinery of a new truck.

Roberts was able to turn the Pelican 360 degrees in the same spot to get out of a narrow dead end or parking space. The two back wheels of the truck are placed together. The tricycle-like configuration helps with turning but makes the ride very bumpy.

Brushes near the front of the truck spun debris into a trough. Every few streets, Roberts would call a dump truck over and empty gallons of decomposing leaves, soggy cardboard boxes and trash into the back of the other truck.

Roberts has to watch out for rags, large rocks and other odd pieces of trash that might damage the vehicle. Earlier in the day, he had to avoid picking up the cover for a toilet water tank.

Other city employees help with these odds and ends. One employee darted out to throw a dirt-covered piece of clothing on Humphrey Street out of the path of the sweeper. After the sweeper passed, he carefully placed the cloth in a large trash bag.

Once in a while, Roberts encountered cars still parked in front of houses or stores, sometimes right next to signs warning of upcoming street sweeping. The city posts those signs 24 hours in advance. On the day of the sweep, a city Transportation, Traffic and Parking employee drives through the route and tucks tickets into the windshields of the cars that did not move.

Roberts found a few flaws in that system on Thursday. Sometimes cars without tickets were parked next to those with tickets. This likely meant that a driver had pulled up after the traffic employee had passed through. In the past, Roberts would simply call the tow truck back. Under the new policy, he wasn’t sure about the protocol.

One red car looked clearly abandoned, tires flat and without a license plate. Who would pay that ticket?

Roberts’ day lasts from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. After he finishes sweeping up debris, he is responsible for some of the truck maintenance and cleaning — not one of his favorite parts of the job.

When he clocks out, he returns home to Fair Haven. It’s hard to completely turn off the part of his brain focused on clean streets. He gets upset when he sees neighbors throw a soda can or a fast food bag onto the street and then walk into their house.

“When we do the streets, it looks really nice. I just hope the residents work with us,” Roberts said.