It's Spring Cleaning For The City Volunteers Will Sweep Up Trash, Plant Flowers, And Scrub Graffiti In An Effort Led By Civic Groups.

About 4,000 blocks throughout Philadelphia will be spruced up today as part of the largest one-day spring-cleaning in the city's history, organizers said.

About 60,000 volunteers are expected to sweep trash, plant flowers and remove graffiti during the Great Philadelphia Cleanup, sponsored by PhilaPride and the Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee, a program of the sanitation division of the city Streets Department.

The event coincides with Great American Cleanup, a national effort organized by Keep America Beautiful Inc.

In years past, the Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee oversaw the seasonal cleanup during six consecutive Saturdays. Today's event is the first time that all of the work is being done in one day.

``We don't anticipate any traffic problems,'' Cynthia Hite, a spokeswoman for the city Streets Department, said yesterday.

Organizers said many blocks will hold their cleanups from 7:30 to 8 a.m., when there is little traffic. Backups should be avoided in other areas because hours have been staggered; blocks will be closed off for limited periods of time; and police will be available, if needed, to direct traffic.

Twelve to 15 residents in each block were expected to participate for one to three hours. Trash trucks were scheduled to stop by designated sites for quick pickups.

Mark Viggiano, executive director of PhilaPride, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, described today's effort as a ``mammoth organizational and administrative undertaking.''

``The Streets Department has been diligently planning this event for months,'' he said. ``A one-day cleanup of this magnitude is simply mind-boggling.''