Brockville going on a road salt diet due to shortage this winter

The City of Brockville is mixing sand and salt to clear its roads amidst a provincewide shortage of road salt. CTV’s Peter Szperling reports

The City of Brockville is cutting back on its salt usage this winter as it deals with a shortage of road salt, switching to a salt/sand mixture to conserve its remaining supplies.

The city said on Wednesday it was “experiencing impacts from a province-wide road salt shortage,” and only has 200 tonnes of salt remaining for the rest of the winter.

“Due to the province-wide shortage and resulting allocation limits, we have been advised by our salt supplier that no additional salt deliveries will be available for the remainder of the winter season,” the city said in a media release.

“This situation is not unique to Brockville and reflects the same challenges being experienced by municipalities across Ontario.”

Yannick Beaudin, supervisor of public works for the City of Brockville, says weather has been a factor in the shortage.

“The cause would be, we’ve received a lot more snow events,” Beaudin said.

“It doesn’t matter if it snows two centimeters or ten, the response is the same and the salt output is the same. So, it’s just Mother Nature being relentless this winter.”

The city said staff anticipated the possibility of a road salt shortage, and prepared “as best we could by building stockpiles early in the season.”

“However, remaining supplies are now limited and being carefully managed,” the city said.

“During a typical snow event, crews apply approximately 50 metric tonnes of salt within a 24-hour period. At this time, we have approximately 200 tonnes of salt remaining, along with 400 tonnes of salt/sand mix.”

The city is telling residents to expect snow-packed road conditions, rather than bare, wet pavement.

“To help conserve remaining supplies and ensure materials last through the season, we have discontinued the use of straight salt and are now applying a salt/sand mix. Our sand supply remains in good condition.”

The city is asking Brockville residents to avoid pushing snow onto roads, sidewalks or catch basins.

“Residents may notice that some roads and sidewalks take longer to reach bare pavement, particularly during extended or back-to-back winter events,” the city said.

“Crews will continue performing regular winter maintenance operations and applying a salt/sand mix during and after each winter weather event.”

The City of Ottawa told CTV News Ottawa on Tuesday it had a “sufficient supply” of road salt for the winter.

“The City has an agreement with its vendor, Windsor Salt, and has confirmed they have sufficient supply to meet the City’s needs for the remainder of the snow season,” Christopher Paquette said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.

“Currently, we do not anticipate any shortages.”

More to come

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Josh Pringle