![]() ![]() There are common tricks like pre-salting roads before storms hit, which prevents ice from sticking in the first place. So in recent years, some states and localities have been looking for ways to reduce their reliance on road salt. And that's not even counting the cost of salting cities or rural roads. It then costs another $5 billion to pay for the resulting damage caused by salt. He estimates the US now spends $2.3 billion each year to remove snow and ice from highways. "We've become salt-addicted over the last 50 years, and we're now discovering that there are all these hidden costs," says Xianming Shi, an associate professor in civil and environmental engineering at Washington State University. In some areas, moose and elk get attracted to the salt and wander onto roads, increasing the risk of crashes. The salt in those waterways also kills off fish, plants, and amphibians. In some areas, that makes the drinking water saltier, bad news for people trying to cut their sodium intake. The damage from salting highways alone now costs us $5 billion per yearīut road salt also comes with major drawbacks: Salt is corrosive, chewing through cars, trucks, concrete, and steel bridges. Worse, when all that salt dissolves and washes away, it steadily accumulates in rivers and streams. (The salt works by lowering the freezing temperature of water, preventing ice from forming.) De-icing allows traffic to keep moving, a benefit worth many billions of dollars. One 1992 study found that spreading salt can reduce car accidents by 87 percent during and after a snowstorm. ![]() There are huge upsides to salting the streets. And for that, we can thank the 15 million tons of salt we dump on our roads and sidewalks each winter to melt away the snow and ice. ![]() The US economy doesn't just grind to a halt every time there's a major blizzard. ![]()
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