EDMONTON – They’re almost impossible to avoid at this time of year in Edmonton- large windrows lined on either side of city streets.
“They piled the snow up in front here so people can’t park here,” said Janice Zubin.
Zubin runs her business, The Green House Health Centre, out of her home in the McCauley neighbourhood. With several clients coming and going on a daily basis, she says the large mounds of snow cause a major parking problem.
While they’re regularly removed by city crews on major arterial roadways, bus routes and in school zones, windrows are only packed down to about 30 centimetres when blocking driveways on residential streets. They’re aren’t cleared away on a regular basis.
“It’s a concern that we’re hearing about and this is something that we need to be dealing with,” said City Councillor Amarjeet Sohi. “I have personally noticed that in some neighbourhoods people have to walk on the street in order to go to the end of the block and get to the sidewalk.
“We block that access from the door all the time. And we don’t have a policy to clear. And I think that needs to be dealt with.”
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As a result, Sohi is preparing a subsequent motion to present to council, looking for more information on how quickly and how frequently the city should be removing residential windrows.
“We need to look at ways that we can remove that and clear that access so people can get into their houses from the street, instead of walking half a block or two blocks where the intersection is to get onto the sidewalk.”
When it comes to snow removal, Mayor Don Iveson has heard both complaints and compliments over the past couple of weeks. He says the policy is something council will be taking a closer look at in the New Year.
“A lot of people saying ‘this is better than it was five years ago. I appreciate – given the level of snow – the level of service the city is providing.’ And then I’ve got other people who expect me to personally come shovel their driveways. So everything from one end to the other is what we’re hearing, and councillors have to sort through that and say what’s good value for the citizens.”
At this point it’s not known what removing residential windrows would cost.
In the meantime, Zubin will continue to shovel the windrows away from her front street and have clients park in the back alley.
“My neighbour just actually offered me some parking in the back for clients.”
Following the city’s latest heavy snowfall, the City of Edmonton has issued a seasonal parking ban. It will come into effect at 1:00 a.m. Thursday.
With files from Laurel Gregory, Global News.
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