Street sweeping resumes March 1, but parking enforcement does not begin until March 12. (Luis Gomez Photos)

You’ve been warned: The winter hiatus on city street sweeping ends this Thursday, March 1. Move your car from street sweeping zones on the appropriate day and time or face the possibility that your car will be towed.

But you do have a slight break: Parking enforcement — meaning towing — does not begin until Monday, March 12.

Moreover, there is one sentence in the DC Department of Public Works (DPW) news release you are well advised to follow:

“Motorists are urged to note the days and times on the signs because some signs were changed since last year.” This means to look carefully at the signs that are posted on the block where you park your car “that identify the days of the week and hours of the day when parking restrictions will be in effect so the sweepers can clean the streets effectively.”

Since street sweeping ended for the winter on October 31 of last year, some signs have been changed. There were also some changes last spring when sweeping resumed. For example, blocks on opposite sides of the same street flipped days. Residents who park on the street had to get used to the change in routine.

“This year, we are revising signs in residential neighborhoods with commercial interests to support their customers’ access to curbside parking spaces during the day. For example, DPW posted new times in the 1400 block of P Street NW where Whole Foods and several restaurants form a commercial island within a residential neighborhood,” according to DPW Director William Howland, Jr.

One more warning from Public Works: Avoid parking along sweeping routes before that day’s restriction ends. Why?  “A supervisor follows behind the sweeper and may require the block to be swept again, so no one should park until the end of the posted sweeping period,” said Howland

For more information about street sweeping, go to the DPW website.