Which roads get salt and which get sand? How the province decides

Following concerns about icy roads on a south shore route, the province is explaining how it decides what roads aresalted or sanded

Stephen Szwarc, the acting director for the maintenance division for the Department of Transportation, Infrastructure and Energy saidhis department looks atenvironmental concerns,pavement conditionsand traffic patterns.

Szwarcsaid in general, salt is used onmain highways whilesecondary roadsget sand.

"Alot of its based on traffic counts. I mean our main highways do have quite a bit more traffic so we look at that," he said.

'It's a contaminant'

"There's quite a bit of factors that go into determining which ones get salt and which ones get sand."

He saidthe decision to use salt is carefully considered.

"Anytime that you're using salt, it's a contaminant," he said.

"We have houses that are close to the roadway, so we can get contaminant wells. We can also contaminate streams, brooks, wetlands so it's something that we take very seriously."

Considering alternatives

For traction control,Szwarcsaid sand is a great material.

He also mentioned the benefits of the province's pre-wetting systemwhich uses brine.

Trucks spray the brine solution on dry salt before it's applied to the roadway.

"The intent is that we are able to apply less salt on the roadway while maintaining the same effectiveness level of service," he said.

Some Canadian cities such as Calgary have been utilizingbeet brineto de-ice roads.

Szwarcsaidthe province isn't ruling this out and is looking into the effectiveness of additives to melt ice.

He said last year, approximately 28,000 tons of salt wereused, while nearly 95,000 tons of sand weredistributed, for a total cost of $4 million. The salt and sand each cost $2 million, with the salt being more expensive per ton.

"Depending on the severity of the season, freeze thaw will mean that we either use more salt or more sand so it just kind of depends on the winter,"Szwarcadded.

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