'A big inconvenience': Residents in southeast Edmonton neighbourhood frustrated with windrows left behind

Residents in a southeast Edmonton neighbourhood are frustrated with the massive windrows left behind by city crews after blading the area for ice buildup.

“My husband and I just stuck our fingers in one of them, they are solid ice and they're not going anywhere for a while,” Nickie Scott, a resident in The Meadows, said.

Scott has been living in the area with her family for more than two decades and she says the recent change in street access has made it difficult for people to park or even plug-in their vehicles.

“We had one guy park on top of the windrow last night,” she said while gesturing at the pile of snow in front of her driveway.

“The kids will probably have fun with it, building snow forts… but, that’s probably the only use you’re going to get out of them.”

Bob Wood, another resident, said he’s concerned about the thaw in the spring and the potential impact it could have in the area.

“There’s going to be flooding because the snow is not going to get through these,” he explained while shovelling.

“It’s a big inconvenience for a lot of people.”

Scott understands the city is being proactive but she said there still needs to be a balance.

“The road was fine,” she said.

“It’s the beginning of January and we’re now going to be left with this… we’re going to get more snow and it’s going to get cold.”

Scott told CTV News she escalated the concern with the city by calling 311 and the response she got was there’s “no timeline” to remove the windrows.

“He said, ‘If we come and remove the snow on your street, we have to remove it everywhere,’” she recalled.

Mobility and accessibility is another worry for Scott. She said the mounds of overflowing snow transformed the streets into a “one-way” lane to get in and out.

“The expectation is that we’re going to be like this for the rest of the season.”

Philip Herritt, director of the city's Infrastructure Operations, Parks and Roads Services, said crews have been out in full force this week taking on the deep snowpack on all roads, adding that higher amounts of precipitation this season are tying up equipment and resources.

“As a result of this accumulation, we can expect the size of windrows to be much larger this year, especially in comparison to last year,” Herritt said in a statement to CTV News.

“Once crews have completed clearing a road in a residential neighbourhood, specialized equipment goes in and removes windrows that are blocking driveways and crosswalks.”

“While we do not remove windrows from curbsides in residential areas, we do our best to help ensure safety and mobility for Edmontonians." 

With files from CTV News Edmonton's David Ewasuk