The city of Seattle does not use salt on the snowy/icy roads!!!

[Benzgirl]

One of the communities around here uses beet juice instead of straight brine.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008...ice_beats.html

Road crews have spread tens of thousands of gallons of beet juice on Ohio roads this winter as a less corrosive way to keep ice and snow away. Results have been mostly positive so far.

Akron ordered 4,000 gallons of the juice, called Geomelt, last year and used all of it in the past month. The city anticipates ordering another 4,000 gallons soon.

"It's doing what the sales people said it would," Public Works Manager Paul Barnett said.


When combined with rock salt brine and calcium chloride, the juice blocks ice from forming on pavement even at extremely low temperatures.

The concoction is supposed to stick to the road better than traditional treatments. And adding beet juice lessens the use and effect of calcium chloride, which corrodes cars, concrete and steel.

[PM_Mama00]

Originally Posted by AGDee

They could use other things like sand too. That's what they use in the south. There's no excuse to not do "something" except that I heard they only have 27 snow plows.

As an aside, they are not salting as many roads or plowing as well as they used to in previous years here in metro Detroit either. It's a money thing, not a green thing though. Some roads just aren't getting done and those roads are getting scary dangerous to drive on.

I heard about Trenton on the news and thought that was ridiculous. Maybe money should first go to safety before they blow it all on the Trenton Street Fair and the Taste of Trenton. My subdivision has been getting plowed and salted constantly, which confuses me. It made sense when Mayor and Chief Hall were in their respected offices, but there is no one of city or county significance here. The roads altogether sucked yesterday.

I think cities and counties need to think of safety first, green later. And really, is using salt REALLY that non-green friendly?

[AKA_Monet]

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

I think cities and counties need to think of safety first, green later. And really, is using salt REALLY that non-green friendly?

As living in one of the most tree huggiest States that every exisited, Washington State, according to the "eco-terrorist" salt is ABSOLUTELY NOT green friendly...

But neither are combustible engines that are idling for hours waiting to get home from traffic, which in one area of downtown Seattle, folks waited 2+ hours to just get on a groomed by salted freeway!!!

Now, I can understand using a green alternative in Seattle. Really it's not like other places that REALLY get snow. Most of time, when we do get snow, it's only 2-3 days and it all melts. Zero reason to use salt all the time... But these last storms that many other states felt, ain't no usual 2-3 days of snow--more like 2-3 weeks of it with ice, now...

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

I heard about Trenton on the news and thought that was ridiculous. Maybe money should first go to safety before they blow it all on the Trenton Street Fair and the Taste of Trenton. My subdivision has been getting plowed and salted constantly, which confuses me. It made sense when Mayor and Chief Hall were in their respected offices, but there is no one of city or county significance here. The roads altogether sucked yesterday.

I think cities and counties need to think of safety first, green later. And really, is using salt REALLY that non-green friendly?

They've been plowing and salting my subdivision, but I don't think they ever plowed Van Horn after Friday's dump of snow. So, our side streets were great, but Wayne County roads were awful. They didn't do the turn arounds on Fort for a long time either. Those finally seem ok now. Woodhaven was out today, plowing snow away from some of the storm drains that were covered in the subdivision, because the water in the street had nowhere to go. They've been really good, actually. It's the Wayne County roads.. ugh.

ETA: I was at my uncle's house in Warren tonight and their main roads are fine but his street was awful. It was if they hadn't plowed and now it was half melty/slushy in the street. When it freezes, there will be no driving on that street at all.