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Which Thursday? Which Friday?
How are we to know, on the basis of information furnished on these signs, which alternate Thursdays and which alternate Fridays are Street Cleaning days? Instead of placing a sign identifying specific dates, the City just arbitrarily issues tickets when only the City's personnel know which days they are cleaning which side of the street. I would hope that one of Evanston's fine Attorneys would challenge the City's ability to issue tickets based on the clearly insufficient information provided to the public and require the City to cancel tickets issued since the beginning of this year's street cleaning program and refund all parking fines obtained in this illegal manner. 
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There is a copy of the City's Street Cleaning schedule for our residential area. The schedule calls for "alternate" weeks. By now I have crossed out the dates when street cleaning was scheduled for either the north, west, east or south sides of the streets. Many Evanstonians who don't regularly check the City's web site are completely unaware of this and, of course, all of our out-of-city visitors had no idea that parking on those sides of the streets was OK during alternate weeks, in spite of what the signs say. Even though, all along, I had a copies of the Schedule in my car and in my office, I have missed the dates and received tickets.
Hans A. Friedman, FAIA
The signs indicate no parking every Friday, not every other Friday.
Based on the information on the signs, if you are parked on that side of the street on any Friday between April 1 and November 30 between the hours of 9am and 4pm, you should expect your car to be towed.
If tickets and towing are in fact only enforced every other Friday, then so be it and park at your own risk I guess, but according to the signs you cannot park there on any Friday.
Hans is correct that the signs are a little misleading, but for years street-sweeping has been every two weeks. The schedule is posted online at the City's website.
It does throw people off, tho. Streets don't get swept one week, or people see their neighbors not moving their cars, and the next week they forget, and bam, get a ticket. Some people conclude it's arbitrary. Many residents just end up moving their cars every week. Probably there are thousands of unnecessary vehicle maneuvers going on every week in Evanston, burning a lot of gasoline.
At the beginning of the season we write the schedule onto our calendar. Still doesn't always work.
"Strange women lying in ponds, distributing swords, is no basis for a system of government."
Every year, the city advertises a new street cleaning schedule. It's in the newspapers, City newsletter, electronic newsletter, cable channel 16, etc. It's usually advertised in March, just before the street cleaning season begins. You can park on the streets on the dates NOT LISTED on the schedule and not receive tickets for it. Here's information AND a video.
www.cityofevanston.org/global/street_video.shtml
www.cityofevanston.org/departments/publicworks/streets/street_cleaning.shtml
www.cityofevanston.org/departments/publicworks/streets/pdf/AtYourDisposal2.pdf
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