'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
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Attack on prison van in France kills 2 officers, inmate escapes
Armed assailants killed two French prison officers and seriously wounded three others in an attack on a convoy in Normandy on Tuesday and an inmate escaped, officials said.
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence for 10 years under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
$1.6B parts plant for Honda electric vehicle batteries coming to Niagara Region
A Japanese company has announced it will build an approximately $1.6-billion plant in Ontario's Niagara Region that will make a key electric vehicle battery component as part of Honda's supply chain in the province.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Manitoba premier to visit areas impacted by wildfire
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will get a close-up look at the devastation from a large wildfire burning in northern Manitoba Tuesday.
1 killed, 3 injured including toddler, after Hwy. 417 crash in Ottawa
Ontario Provincial Police are responding to a fatal collision involving two vehicles on Highway 417 in Ottawa's west end on Tuesday morning.