Road Salt

Submitted by Dr_ThunderMD t3_zwjekv in LowellMA

Am I the only one who’s really sickened by the amount of road salt that has been put down?

Every street in Lowell is white right now, not because of snow, but because of corrosive road salt. There are literal piles of salt all along the side of every road.

It destroys our roads, our cars, and our environment. There are other viable solutions that are dramatically less impactful, and just as effective.

I plan on researching comparable cities that are using road salt alternatives and will present to the city council. Posting here to see if there is anyone local who’d be looking to join me on this venture.

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Comments

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Theabird t1_j1vle0j wrote

Damn my perception of a lot must be really off. I'd been thinking that this seems like a lot less then I saw when I lived closer to boston.

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Dr_ThunderMD OP t1_j1votpl wrote

It's honestly awful all throughout Mass, but I'm looking to start bringing about awareness to the problem.

Our tax dollars pay for roads, which are then destroyed by our tax paid salt and road workers, then our tax dollars pay for the new roads, and on and on.

It's a viscous cycle of a money pit that burdens the tax payer, when our local government should be looking for safer alternatives.

Sure, salt is cheap as hell, but there is certainly a cost/benefit factor that is being ignored here.

My question is, what costs the tax payer more?

  • Paying to repave roads, repair our cars, and treat our land that deteriorated at an accelerated rate due to cheap road salt?
  • Using a significantly less corrosive ice melt substance (at higher cost than salt), but preserving and extending the life of our roads, cars, and environment?
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Theabird t1_j1vpbu6 wrote

It's a worthwhile goal I don't disagree I'd honestly prefer we switch to sand and tire chains

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classicrock40 t1_j1wshuh wrote

My guess is that extra was used this time because of the rain/snow/wind/icing potential and they wanted to really make sure the roads were passable. It's like that way over in Nashua and surrounding areas too. Agreed on the salt impact, but I have no idea on the effectiveness of the alternatives.

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STICKAjones t1_j1x2ci6 wrote

Dwight said beet juice works well, maybe look into that. (Seriously)

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Sbatio t1_j1xmsja wrote

I’m all for using a eco friendly alternative. I don’t know much about it.

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WholeLottaMcLovin t1_j24y4q1 wrote

I understand the need for it, but I also don't see why theres PILES OF IT in some places. It just seems to be distributed without much care sometimes unfortunately.

Its also a big issue for animals as well as local wildlife who walk in it. Again, I get the need for it, but it seems like there could be more discretion in its use and distribution.

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Dr_ThunderMD OP t1_j253b8d wrote

I read through the report linked above, it basically comes down to too much of a safety trade off using a salt alternative.

People generally don’t care much for their cars, and the damage to infrastructure and environment is seen as fixable after the fact. Essentially, the death and injury/accident rate would increase under a salt alternative, which is seen as less favorable compared to preserving bridges and the environment.

So if there is to be a salt alternative, it would need to be almost nearly as effective if not better than salt would be right now.

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