Snow and Ice Control Policy - Calcium Chloride

It is critical that the City is consistently investigating the best methods and technologies to keep our roads, sidewalks, and trails safe. In the past, the City of Edmonton has used salt as a means to melt ice on the roads and increase traction. This past year, administration started a pilot projectusing a substance called calcium chloride, in conjunction with salt, to maintain the roads. While the city has been using calcium chloride for many years, the increased use of calcium chloride and salt has garnered significant media and community attention, as many Edmontonians have noticed a change on the roads. I had a chance to put together a longer video as I wanted to make sure everyone had all the information on this. For example, the city has been using salt and calcium chloride since as far back as at least 2001. As noted in the video, that doesn't mean we should continue to use it but I want to make sure everyone has all of the information because the debate should likely be about the use of any salt and calcium chloride going forward and what that will mean for the conditions of our road in the winter.[embed]https://youtu.be/THD3TSWiN_s[/embed] I'm leaning more towards eliminating all salt/calcium chloride usage but I want to make sure people would be ok with much icier roads during the winter months as it means we'd have to drive more cautiously since sand only works in very specific circumstances and is quite ineffective on roads with speeds of 50km/h or more. One other idea might be to pilot no salt/calcium chloride usage this winter before making a permanent decision because we haven't had a winter since at least 2001 where there wasn't some level of salt and calcium chloride used on our roads. As noted in the video, here is a chart that provides a breakdown of how much we have been using of each tool since 2001. Once you have a chance to watch, I'd be interested in any additional feedback you may have.