The dominoes are falling
Departments of Transportation in western states have been among the last in the U.S. to abandon sand for winter highway maintenance and switch to straight salt. This winter, Idaho joins the bandwagon. Utah was the first to embrace straight salt in a successful quest to reduce high winter levels of airborne particulate contamination. Sand is also an environmental threat to roadside stream fish habitat and, when all costs are considered, more expensive than straight salt.
Idaho DOT announced it was emulating the success of straight salting in Utah and predicted the move would stretch tax dollars. More than that, straight salt will impose fewer direct costs on drivers. KPVI-TV in Pocatello interviewed Steve Gertonson, Maintenance Enginee saying:
"It will reduce broken windshields for people that get broken windshields from the sanding material spread on the roadway; we'll save labor costs through less trips on the roadway plowing; in the springtime we always have to go through and clean up all the sanding material that is deposited on the roadways, so there should be less labor hours and clean up in the spring; and less fuel use throughout the winter."
