MOUNT VERNON — The Ohio Department of Transportation’s new initiative to reduce the amount of rock salt used to treat Ohio’s roads has some ODOT employees concerned about the safety of Ohio drivers.
The snowfall the weekend of Dec. 6 and 7 was the first real test of the ODOT strategy to cut salt usage. The 2 to 3 inches of snow which fell in Knox County between Saturday and early Sunday morning, snarled traffic and contributed to many accidents.
Some veteran ODOT employees, speaking on the condition of anonymity, have brought their concerns about how the salt cutbacks could affect public safety to the attention of the News.
“The drivers are concerned about it, yes,” a Central Ohio ODOT driver said of the new Smart Salt Strategy. “They’re not letting us do our jobs,” he said of the new policies set by the agency which allow only 400 pounds of salt to be used per mile.
The ODOT drivers interviewed for this story said they have been told by management that the Columbus central office of ODOT has instructed county managers to cut the use of rock salt by 30 percent. A county manager said he has been told in more than one meeting to meet the goal of cutting salt usage by 30 percent, due to the increased cost of salt this year.
One driver said he was told by supervisors the reduction was due to a shortage of salt stockpiled by ODOT this year. He said he questioned this explanation when he later learned ODOT planned to make at least 70,000 tons of rock salt available to communities which had not been able to secure salt contracts themselves.
“Why would we be selling it if we don’t have enough?” he asked.
District 5 spokeswoman Kate Stickle said ODOT has not cut back, “but has developed many Smart Salt Strategies to become more efficient with our salt usage.”
She said the new strategies include infrared temperature sensors, which allow crews to see exact surface temperature of the roadway and apply materials as needed, and calibrated salt spreaders found on every snowplow to allow crews to adjust the application of ice-melting materials.
According to one county manager from outside Knox County, all ODOT trucks in the state have been calibrated to use only up to the 400-pounds-per-mile amount. Those 400 pounds can be made up of all rock salt, or a 50/50 mix of rock salt with grit or cinders.
“We used to use [400 pounds] to 600 pounds per mile, and if we needed more we put down more,” said one driver.
He pointed out that if trucks are loaded with the 50/50 mix, only 200 pounds of salt are actually being put down.
The drivers interviewed said that in their experience, the salt/grit mix, used years ago by ODOT and then replaced with straight rock salt, does not melt snow and ice nearly as well as the salt used full strength in recent years.
“The grit will give you traction, but it won’t melt ice and snow,” one driver said.
Another driver said in some counties where trucks are now called off the road at 11 or 12 o’clock at night and not back until 6 or 7 in the morning, the drivers are concerned about school buses and other early morning travelers that may now have to travel uncleared roads.
“Our second and third priority routes, we may not be doing those as often or at night, or we may be using a two or three to one mix [of grit to salt,]” explained a county manager.
ODOT prioritizes roads into three categories. Most four-lane highways are first priority. This means many lesser-traveled country roads are second and third priorities.
The News looked at figures from a snowfall earlier this month, and compared the statistics with a significant snowfall last year at the same time of year with similar temperatures and about 2 inches more snow.
On Dec. 4 and 5, 2007, the county received a total of about 5 inches of snow accumulation, according to the National Weather Service.
During that time period, according to Stickle, ODOT crews in Knox County used 544 tons of rock salt to treat roads. ODOT trucks traveled 3,979 miles during the two days in 2007, according to the ODOT figures. This required 301.5 labor hours.
During the snowfall earlier this month, 152.5 tons of rock salt were spread; 119.5 tons of salt/grit additive were also spread. This required 169.7 labor hours, adding up to 2,868 miles traveled by ODOT trucks during the two days.
The roads were pretreated with brine before both snowfalls.
The ODOT employees, other than the spokesman interviewed for this story, all voiced concerns about how a reduction in salt usage has affected the safety conditions on Ohio roads during recent snow and ice events.
During the December 2007 snowfall, according to the Mount Gilead Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, there are records of 17 crashes over the two-day period which occurred during the work week. During the recent snowfall, there were reports of 25 crashes from Saturday to Sunday morning, which typically finds traffic lighter than weekdays.
Stickle pointed out every storm is different, and travel conditions can vary mile to mile, and hour to hour.
“No matter how much salt we use or how many crews we have out, driver safety begins behind the wheel,” Stickle said.
Stressing responsible winter driving, Stickle said “drivers who don’t remember to take it slow in snow and ice are six times more likely to get into a crash, compared to nonwinter driving.”
The drivers said fewer trucks on the roads spreading less salt means the roads are simply not as clear, or as safe.
“Upper management has restricted us being able to do our job proficiently,” said one driver with over 20 years experience.
The ice and snow Friday night, which resulted in several accidents, may not have been handled as aggressively as before the reductions, according to employees.
“It’s not local management,” one driver said. “I believe this is coming from the central office.”
Drivers said they have already seen accidents in winter weather which they believe could have been prevented with more aggressive snow and ice defense.
A county manager said no incentive program has been offered to county managers to enforce the 30 percent reduction in salt. However, he said, he believes some county managers have taken the reduction to more of an extreme than others.
He said if faced with the decision between safety and reaching the 30 percent reduction goal, he believes protecting the public is his first priority.
“I do have that authority,” he said. “Then I would have to justify my actions to the highway administrator and whether or not that would satisfy the situation for them, I do not know.”
The manager said he was told at a meeting with upper management that if the ODOT budget is not able to be cut by a reduction in the cost of salt usage, other cuts, including personnel, would have to be made.
He said he believes materials may have been wasted in years past, and that belt tightening is necessary in all departments in the current economy.
“I believe we can save a lot of material and not cut back on the service the public expects,” he said. “But the 30 percent has been thrown out there as a goal for us to reach.”
Stickle said ODOT Knox County Manager Brian Hunter was unavailable Monday to be interviewed for this story.
If a compromise cannot be reached between upper management and the workers who log the miles on the roads, all of the employees interviewed said they believe the public should be informed of the reductions in salt usage.
“My opinion is if we’re not going out and treating our highways the way we have in the past, we need to let people know what we’re doing,” a county manager said.
“We need to put it out there what’s going on,” one local driver said.
“Common sense belt tightening is one thing,” a county manager said. “But you cannot cross the line and endanger people’s lives.”
