Some streets are on a high-sodium diet
Posted on April 15th, 2008 – 6:05 AMBy Roadguy
Spring street sweeping starts today in Minneapolis, and that’s a good thing, because while Roadguy was driving across town on Sunday, he happened upon this:
Two miles to the east on the same street were these:
With all the concern about the impact of road salt on both vehicles and the environment, it was a bit dismaying to see random piles on the pavement, especially with the lack of snow in the forecast. I called the city and asked whether these sorts of spills should be reported to 311; when I hear back, I’ll let you know what they say.
I think it was last spring that a small berm of salt appeared on the ramp to westbound I-94 behind the Convention Center. It took weeks for it to dissolve; let’s hope these new piles get vacuumed up instead.
Also, Roadguy must acknowledge that he isn’t 100 percent sure that it’s salt, as he refused to taste it:
So perhaps it was rock candy. Either way, it can’t be too good for your set of wheels.
11 Responses to "Some streets are on a high-sodium diet"
Well if MN DoT doesn’t use it all up, how will they get the same amount the following year? Maybe if the State lowered their road salt budget, they could shift some of that money into pothole repair.
Can they “vacuum” it all up and reuse it? It’s probably not cost effective, but it makes me sad to see all of the waste….
The vast majority of the salt used on the roads here and elsewhere end up in the river when spring rains wash it all down the storm sewers.
Will that stuff work in my water softener? I need some more salt and now that I know where there is some…
Actually it probably would work in the softener. BUT it usually has some other stuff in it like molasses, which would probably gum up your softener.
I actually can’t believe they are still using salt. Destructive to the roads, the cars, plants and the water table.
I thought there were no destructive ‘melts’ available? And even gravel would be better than this …
Actually Elydog, there are some communities, Mpls I think is one of them, that have switched away from a salt/sand mixture, to using more salt instead. The reason? Cost, of course. Pure salt is cheaper than a salt sand mixture. Plus, the cleanup cost is cheaper in the spring, as sand tends to clog up sweepers and cause more problems than just salt.
Another reason for more salt, sand also ends up causing wetlands and ponds to fill up.
I doubt we can use anything else that’s affordable and clears the roads in a metro area of 3 million, Elydog. While salt does have the drawbacks that you listed, I doubt people want to drive around on snow-packed roads for 3 months.
Salt is not cheaper than sand.
The Twin Cities use way too much salt on the roads. Not only do I get salt stains on my boots when I have to walk across a slushy street but I can actually TASTE the salt particles in the air in some places.
There has to be a better way.
