Edmonton’s city planning department has achieved the impossible: they’ve brought the Rocky Mountains directly to our doorsteps. Unfortunately, they’re made of frozen grey slush. The city took almost a month to begin plowing residential areas, creating an obstacle course where the road decides where you are going, not the steering wheel. 

While residential zones are finally making the cut for plowing, six-foot windrows, taller than your average sedan, have invaded the city. For many Edmontonians, parking their car now requires a tactical plan and the luck of a lottery winner. Not only is parking a mess, but these windrows are spilling over onto sidewalks, making it almost impossible for seniors, people with disabilities, and parents with strollers to walk in their own neighborhoods. People have even resorted to walking their dogs in the street, choosing to play chicken with cars rather than climbing over ice walls. 

The city’s two phase snow removal approach has proven ineffective, and is honestly just a disaster. By the time the city completes phase one (clearing the main roads), the residential streets slotted for phase two become akin to rutted dirt roads that destroy your suspension and test your patience. Edmontonians are paying record-high property taxes (with a 6.9% increase this year), and are basically being told our homes are the lowest priority. Rather than a two-phase approach, Edmonton city planners need to reassess and reapply the budget to find a way to clear arteries and residential roads simultaneously — possibly using taxpayer dollars to fund a larger fleet. 

As a self proclaimed “winter city,” how are we being beaten by winter?