It’s been a snowy and consistently cold winter so far. Governor Kathy Hochul says these are the most challenging road conditions New York has seen in years, and that means lots of road salt.
“I mean, this is the worst weather we’ve had in a long time and sort of sustained cold that requires constant salt on the roads. Because of that high demand, communities across the state are reporting difficulty in road salt,” said Governor Hochul, when asked about the salt shortage at a press conference.
Syracuse.com reports that county, town, and village transportation departments in central New York are rationing salt. Some towns are only salting intersections and hilltops. In northern New York, several county highway departments reported delays in road salt deliveries.
Edwards Adams is the highway superintendent for Franklin County. Normally, we would put in an order and it would be filled within the next week, and we are waiting when we do put in an order for a couple of weeks and getting one load at a time as opposed to one truck right after another.
So it’s definitely delayed, he says. The county’s salt supply is in good shape because most of the time they use sand or sand cut with salt, but he says towns and municipalities are struggling with supply.
“I’ve heard of many different towns struggling to get salt,” Adams said.
American Rock Salt, based in western New York, is the largest salt mine in the country and one of the main suppliers of salt for the state and the North Country.
Earlier this month, it said in a statement that it had already mined and shipped out more salt this winter than in all of last winter. It says to meet increased demand, the company is dipping into its reserves and increasing daily production at the mine.
Governor Hochul says the state Office of General Services is assisting municipalities with delivery delays.
Story by: Amy Feiereisel, New York Public News Network
Image: Office of the Governor