Today is street sweeping day for parts of the University District. Do you know where your car is? Last month, 273 vehicles were towed to make way for cleaning trucks. Ohio State is offering free parking to district residents who must move their wheels.Fifth Avenue and Olentangy River Road will be swept from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to the Public Service Department.On May 14, sweeping will be from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. for Fourth Street and Arcadia Avenue.Campus Partners and other community groups are making attempts to remind residents to move their cars, said Steve Sterrett, community director of Campus Partners.Volunteers from the area are placing 4,000 fliers on vehicles in the late evenings to remind residents of the sweeping dates and times, he said.There is a sign at the corner of 15th and High streets, and there was an ad in the Lantern Thursday reminding students of the sweepings, Sterrett said.”The idea is to get people to move vehicles voluntarily so they don’t get towed,” he said. “Given the numbers of parked vehicles in this area, there is a great concern.”The number of cars towed has decreased since last year, Sterrett said. Even though more effort has been made to make residents aware of the sweeping dates and times, the numbers are still too high, he said.During April 1997, there were 329 vehicles towed in the district. The best way to avoid getting towed is to keep on top of the sweeping schedule, said Jennifer Novak, a senior majoring in music education. The signs and fliers help a lot, she said.And she should know. Her car was towed last August to clear a path for street sweeping crews after she parked it on the west side of Summit Street. It took a week to get her car back and cost her about $450 in fines.”They make you pay any old parking fines to get your car back,” Novak said. “There were a lot of old tickets from my freshman year that I didn’t even know I had.”Novak said the charge to be towed for sweeping is too high.”It’s too steep for just moving your car,” she said.The price of the ticket and towing combined is $80, plus a charge for holding the vehicle per day, said Sterrett.Residents without parking decals can use the north riverbank lot on the west bank of the Olentangy River between Woody Hayes Drive and Lane Avenue bridges during the sweeping.