City sweeping crews are poised to gussy up nearly 1,000 miles of streets starting Tuesday, and drivers need to be on the lookout for "No Parking" signs or run the risk of forking over money at the impound lot.

The removal of the dirt and grime that the melting ice and snow leaves behind will run through May 8. Minneapolis streets are swept completely curb to curb once in the spring and once in the fall.

Those temporary "No Parking" signs will be posted at least 24 hours in advance to make sure streets are clear of parked vehicles. Violators should expect to have their vehicles ticketed and towed to the impound lot.

Yes, the city is serious. During the fall version of street sweeping in 2012, more than 4,000 vehicles were ticketed and more than 2,700 were towed.

Crews began sweeping parkways and some commercial corridors last month, and alley sweeping started April 6. Crews also are sweeping select downtown streets at night, and temporary parking restrictions may be posted between midnight and 5 a.m.

Parking will be banned from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the day a residential street is swept. The "No Parking" signs will be removed as soon as possible after a street has been completely swept.

Residents can go to www.minneapolismn.gov/publicworks/streetsweeping and click on "street sweeping schedule lookup" to find out which week a street is scheduled to be swept. The weekend before that week, they can revisit the website to find out which day of the week the street is scheduled to be swept.

Paul Walsh