Calgarians responsible for clearing windrows in front of their property: city

Although plowing snow from streets is the city’s responsibility, the windrows—narrow piles of snow and ice—are left behind, raising questions about who is responsible for clearing those obstacles.

“A snow windrow is a pile of snow that accumulates at the end of driveways and on the sides of streets during plowing by a truck or grader,” according to the City of  Calgary’s road maintenance page:

The page goes on to explain it is the home owner’s responsibility to remove their own driveway windrows, but the page does not cover who is responsible for the windrows in front of your home on the street.

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According to Anna Melnick with the City of Calgary, there are no bylaws pertaining to windrows, so if a homeowner chooses to leave the windrow in front of their property, they will not face any sort of fine.

Melnick said as a general policy, the city does not clear windrows. However, in extreme cases—such as at the request of a senior citizen or someone with limited mobility—crews might go out and investigate a windrow and knock it down if necessary.

Melnick told Global News the city received 2,700 calls to 311 last week for all types of snow removal requests including windrows, sidewalks and pathways. Melnick said that number does not seem to be higher than previous weeks.

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According to Mac Logan, general manager of the transportation department, one of the challenges with snow removal in Calgary is the city’s seven-day plan gets reset to Day 1 when there is “any major snowfall.”

Global News asked Melnick if she was able to offer a quantitative value on what would set crews back to Day One and there does not appear to be an amount.

Environment Canada’s records show there has been fresh snow in Calgary eight of the first 22 days in January, with a measurable amount of snow on the ground since Dec. 1, 2016.

Temperatures have ranged from 10 C to -27 C since the start of December, with many cycles of melting, adding to the windrow woes within the city.

For more details on the city’s snow removal plan, click here.