By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
Last Thursday, Olean Mayor Bill Aiello issued a press release advising motorists that the city was experiencing a road salt shortage that requires “minimizing the use of salt to high problem areas.”
The city is not alone. Municipalities across New York state are using more salt on roadways than they have in years — thanks to cold entry weather that just doesn’t seem to go away.
“Due to this shortage, the Streets, Parks and Sewer divisions are working together to make sure that all roads as well as city-owned parking lots and sidewalks are cleared and passable while minimizing the use of salt to high problem areas,” Aiello said in the statement issued on Thursday.
“Once the salt order is fulfilled, the City will continue to maintain the salt run areas including the problem areas,” Aiello said. A delivery date for the city’s most recent salt purchase “has not yet been established.”
Cattaraugus County is experiencing similar salt delivery delays from American Rock Salt Co. in Livingston County.
“Thankfully, we’re OK,” said Public Works Commissioner Kathleen Ellis. “We’re getting our deliveries, but they have been slow in coming.”
Ellis said, “We’ve been able to do what we have to. We been in contact with the state Office of General Services on a daily basis.” The county is currently paying $52.02 per ton through state bid. The price goes up and down depending on the price of fuel. American Rock Salt sets up the trucking.
Public Works operations manager Scott Andrews didn’t have exact salt usage numbers, but said, “It’s definitely up from last year. “We’re looking at numbers we haven’t seen since 2018.”
Municipalities sta,” Amnewide are all looking for more road salt, Andrews said. Cattaraugus County is taking some of the same steps to conserve salt as others, he explained.
“In a normal winter we use a 30% salt to sand mixture,” Andrews said. “About two weeks ago, we went to 10% salt unless there is a dangerous situation” like an ice storm.
County parking lots usually get a straight salt application.
“”We are weeks — not days — away from running out of salt,” Ellis said.
“By the looks of the forecast, Mother Nature is not going away soon,” Andrews said. “Until then, we’ll keep doing what we’re doing.”
When the weather is as cold as it has been for weeks — rarely getting to 32 degrees — the salt does not readily melt the ice. This is where the sand helps vehicles grip the roads’ icy surfaces.
Plows and sanders will often apply salt and sand will often hit the hills, curves and intersections when road salt is i9n short supply
Municipalities have not asked the county to share its salt supplies yet.
In the Town of Great Valley, Supervisor Dan Brown, who is also chairman of the Cattaraugus County Town Supervisors Association, said, “We’re in pretty good shape. We just got in a load of salt, so we’re doing fine.”
When it’s as cold as the weather has been lately, “the salt doesn’t do any good. Many towns have been going with a bigger sand base to use less salt.”
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