LYNN — With spring in full swing, Lynn is gearing up for another season of street sweeping and community cleanups, combining city services and grassroots energy to keep neighborhoods clean and connected.
The Department of Public Works, in partnership with Millennium, will begin its 2025 spring street sweeping program on Monday, April 14, starting in Ward 1. Secondary roads will be swept Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., organized by ward and precinct. Vehicles parked on the street during scheduled sweeping are subject to ticketing or towing.
“Street sweeping not only keeps our neighborhoods looking great — it protects our waterways, reduces pollution, and ensures safer streets for everyone,” said Lisa Nerich, deputy commissioner of public works.
Residents are advised to check the updated sweeping calendar at lynnma.gov, where changes due to rain, construction or emergencies will be posted daily. In case of inclement weather, crews will return to missed areas the following week.
Downtown sweeping resumed March 3 and currently runs Monday through Thursday from 4 to 8 a.m., with Fridays added as of April 1. Residents are reminded to pay close attention to posted signage to avoid fines or towing.
Complementing the city’s street-sweeping effort, the volunteer-led “Keep Lynn Clean” initiative begins its eighth spring season on Saturday, April 19, with a kickoff event at Lynn Common. The cleanup program runs for 10 Saturdays in the spring and 10 in the fall, from 9 to 11 a.m., with each ward councilor selecting a location to focus on. The city provides cleanup equipment; volunteers simply need to show up.
“It’s grown from five volunteers to over 50 every Saturday,” Councilor Brian Field said. “It’s about pride in the city and giving people a way to show up and make a difference.”
This year’s opening event will double as Field’s birthday celebration. He’s sponsoring a pizza party for participants. The city will skip the April 26 cleanup due to parade and festival conflicts, then resume on May 3.
Field and Councilor Diana Chakoutis also co-leads the city’s Litter Committee, which oversees the annual second-grade anti-litter poster contest. The contest involves councilors, school officials and city staff visiting second-grade classrooms across Lynn to teach litter prevention and civic responsibility.
“All second graders are invited to participate, and every school picks one winner whose poster gets displayed citywide,” Field said. “Then we vote on a citywide winner, and that one ends up on a billboard over the summer.”
Leslie Cole of the Flax Pond Association praised the city’s effort to engage children early.
“It’s about helping the whole city,” Cole said. “And when you go into schools, the kids take that message home. They remind their families to throw trash away or bring it back in a bag. That really matters.”
Cole said the Flax Pond Association began organizing cleanups in 2012 to beautify the Flax Pond area and manage a growing geese population. Over the years, the group has partnered closely with the city and DPW, expanding its reach and impact. With city and state support, the association has helped acquire public trash barrels and install geese-deterring beacons at the pond.
“We’ve seen real progress — it’s about building habits and making it easier for people to do the right thing,” Cole said. “The cleaner it is, the better it is for everyone.”
Lifelong Lynn resident Bob Donnelly has attended Saturday cleanups for about five years. He said what started as curiosity soon became a weekend ritual and a way to connect with the wider community.
“It’s a great opportunity to feel part of the community,” Donnelly said. “You meet people you might never run into otherwise. And you learn about parks you didn’t even know existed.”
Donnelly noted the difference that public trash cans make.
“You notice a difference where there are trash cans — when they’re missing, there’s always more trash,” he said. “Along the bike path, it really stands out.”
For a full street sweeping schedule or to learn more about cleanup events, visit lynnma.gov or call the Department of Public Works at 781-586-8010.
