Windrows along Edmonton’s Whyte Avenue has store owners concerned about business, customer safety

Some business owners along Edmonton’s Whyte Avenue are airing their frustrations over the state of windrows in front of their stores.

“People have been getting stuck in it, people have been falling over it — it’s ridiculous,” said S&M High Fidelity owner Mike Harlow.

The windrow in front of Harlow’s Whyte Avenue audio store has lead to a mountain of problems.

“It’s amazingly frustrating and its costing us money,” Harlow said.

He said beyond that, it’s dangerous.

“I had a client’s wife bring a turn table in for service to us and she fell backwards and I actually caught her from just about falling into traffic,” Harlow said.

And he’s not the only business owner with curbside complaints.

“Lots of people are complaining and coming to us and saying why should Whyte Avenue be in this situation?” Lotus House of Kebab owner Ben Arbabi said.

Arbabi said customers are having a difficult time finding parking near his restaurant.

“If someone slips here or if someone can’t walk well or cannot park well here, if some accidents happen here, then there will be a blockage of Whyte Avenue — then there would be a huge problem,” Arbabi said.

Both business owners said they’ve been waiting for the windrows to be removed since before Christmas, and efforts to get them removed are going no where.

“Somebody from road maintenance phoned and they basically went, ‘yeah it’s on the schedule, we’ll get to it in a week or two,'” Harlow said.

In a statement to Global News, the city wrote: “Across all districts, crews are working to pick up windrows that are impacting adjacent infrastructure. Windrows that present a safety risk, sightlines for example, are addressed first, followed by ones encroaching on driving lanes or pedestrian access. Next are areas that impact adjacent infrastructure including parking lanes. Whyte Avenue is currently scheduled for pick up starting tonight for completion by the end of the week.

“Priority area windrow pick up will continue for the next week as long as the weather stays favourable. We ask all residents to observe no parking restrictions to allow crews to complete areas in the most efficient manner.”

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A clean up that can’t come soon enough for these businesses.

“In the five years we’ve been open, this is the first time,” Harlow said.

The City of Edmonton says after clearing residential roads, windrows of 30 cm or more that block driveways are cleared by the city, with enough access for one vehicle to pass through the windrow (about 3.5 m).

If windrows are creating a safety concern residents are urged to call 311.