City of Red Deer crews are two-thirds done removing snow from residential streets.
Public Works manager Greg Sikora said all residential areas north of the Red Deer River are finished.
Both crews are continuing to work on the south side. Sikora anticipates the snow clearing will be finished in 10 days.
Crews have been clearing streets and then piling the snow, typically on alternate sides of the street from last year when it was done. Some people are unhappy with the windrows and are complaining to the Public Works department about them.
“I know the administrative staff has been run ragged,” said Sikora. “It’s been a lightning rod for complaints.”
The city recently went on a billboard and ad campaign to promote a “respectful workplace” for outdoor crews.
Sikora said the campaign has helped, but the city is still seeing acts of “elevated frustration or discontent” including an incident that just happened on Friday morning. In that case, RCMP were called after a man was throwing chunks of ice against a grader operator.
Many people are wondering why the city is piling up windrows because the snow is hampering on-street parking in front of their homes.
Sikora said the city is doing residential snow clearing now because otherwise ruts could be formed in the spring. This can make the roads impassable for emergency vehicles and others.
“We’re getting above average windrows (due to the high volume of snow),” he said.
Sikora said some businesses are offering to remove windrows near residences for a fee.
The city is doing a review of this to determine if the businesses are removing the snow properly and if there are any liability issues.
Sikora also reminded adults to keep children from walking on or playing in the snow that has been plowed to one side.
“We are asking residents to not let children dig tunnels or holes into the large piles of snow, as there may be a risk of collapse,” Sikora said.
Residents are further asked to be aware of children in proximity to the roads.
ltester@www.reddeeradvocate.com