MF Broom, Richmond’s favorite (and only) city-owned bike-lane sweeper, has returned.
Why it matters: The $80,000 machine — which was named in a 2022 citywide vote — has been MIA for much of the past two years.
The latest: Then MF Broom casually popped back up on the Richmond Department of Transportation’s X account last week, sweeping away.
- City spokesperson Paige Hairston told Axios that the “significant supply chain delays for critical replacement parts” had kept MF Broom, whose name was inspired by the late rapper MF Doom, away.
- Those issues are now fixed, Hairston said, and there’s one person assigned to the sweeper while two other workers are in training to operate it.
Yes, but: Local cyclists fed up with the “trash, sticks, nails [and] glass” cluttering the lanes crowdfunded over $6,200 to buy one that hooks up to the back of a bike late last month.
- The plan: To pass it among volunteers “to make sure as many bike lanes are swept as possible,” the GoFundMe post read.
Fun fact: Hundreds voted to name MF Broom in an online bracket, which included names like “Sweepy McSweeperson,” “Meryl Sweep” and “The Grim Sweeper.”…