The city uses salt to assist with snow and ice on streets. Salt prevents snow or rain from freezing and helps ice to melt.
Salt can have long-term negative effects on the environment, so the city has taken the following steps to greatly reduce our salt use.
- Anti-icing solutions and pre-treatment of roads reduces need for salt
- Waiting to salt until after the snowplow’s first pass, so salt isn’t immediately plowed off the road
- Measuring pavement temperature to determine the correct amount of salt to apply
- Calibrating equipment
Dry salt and the pre-treatment solution may leave behind a white residue for several days after snow and ice have melted. This means the salt temporarily bonded to the road, which is a positive result. Salt in the street is much better for the environment than salt in the gutter or nearby vegetation. Plus, this could help prevent ice during the next snowfall and reduce the need for additional treatments.
Prior to snowfalls, the city pre-treats most major streets with an anti-icing solution. This helps prevent the snow from sticking to the pavement, reduces ice formation, makes plowing easier and helps reduce the amount of salt needed.
The treatment looks like white lines on the street – that comes from salt deposited on the street after the water evaporates.
The city only uses sand to help provide immediate traction during ice storms, or when temperatures are too low for salt to be effective.
Otherwise, the city has eliminated the use of sand in its regular plowing operations. Sand does not prevent ice from forming or cause it to melt, and it eventually washes into the nearest waterway, where it can obstruct the flow of storm sewers or fill wetlands, lakes and creeks.
