Barrie's topography can be challenging when managing road salt - Barrie News

The balance between safe surfaces and road salt management is being found in Barrie.

A recent presentation on the city’s salt management strategy, at infrastructure and community investment committee, showed less is more on a number of levels. 

“Over the past decade, the average salt application rate has steadily declined,” said Craig Morton, the city’s senior manager of roads and fleet operations.

In the 2023-24 winter season, for example, the city’s road operations department reduced salt use by 51 per cent compared to the previous five-year average.

This reduction equates to approximately 6,100 tonnes of salt saved, resulting in $400,000 in savings, based on the current salt pricing, Morton said.

“During the winter, this is always a hot topic in terms of the amount of salt that the city uses,” said Coun. Bryn Hamilton, committee chairwoman. 

The city has a long list of factors when it comes to using salt to keep surfaces safe.

Included are 1,670 lane kilometres of road, 688 kilometres of sidewalks, 452 kilometres of storm pipes and 28 kilometres of storm culverts.

Barrie’s terrain involves five weather zones, freeze-thaw conditions, a 2.9-metre annual average snow accumulation, an average of 80 winter events and Highway 400.

Katie Thompson, the city’s manager of environmental risk management and compliance, waste management and environmental sustainability, said Barrie’s geography is also a challenge.

“Highway 400 runs through our city,” she said. “Once salt is applied, it can move around in both our ground and surface water resources.

“The terrain or topography of our city can be thought of as a bowl,” Thompson said. “We have uplands and lowlands connected by creeks that drain water down toward Kempenfelt Bay.”

Barrie has 14 deep underground water supply wells and one surface water intake on Kempenfelt Bay for its drinking water.

Thompson said Environment and Climate Change Canada has released a report stating road salts are entering our environment and posing a risk to our plants, animals and water. Once it’s applied it continues to move through the environment. It’s very soluble and hard to remove.

Morton said there are three guiding documents — the winter operations plan, the salt management plan and the salt optimization strategy — that work together to optimize the use of road salt in Barrie.  

They identify key measures that are effective in reducing salt use, he said.

“Due to the impracticality of maintaining all roads simultaneously, a structured priority system ensures efficient resource (snow and salt truck) deployment,” Morton said. “We have different road classifications to help guide us for that.”

He said priority routes are arterial and collector roads with high traffic volumes, bus routes and hills that are maintained to bare pavement, using plowing and de-icing.

Secondary routes are high-traffic roads, including the remaining transit routes, school-adjacent streets and steep grades — maintained again to bare pavement.

Residential routes found in subdivisions are maintained to snow-pack condition, using plowing and a sand/salt mix for traction.

“Plowing is the most environmentally effective method for snow removal,” Morton said. “It minimizes the need for salt.”

City road weather information stations cover all five of Barrie’s distinct weather zones.

“This infrastructure allows staff to make timely, data-driven decisions, resulting in more efficient operations in optimum use of materials and staffing,” he said.

Street sweeping each spring also helps with road salt left from the previous winter.

The city continues to invest in optimizing the use of road salt to protect public safety, while minimizing the environmental impacts related to its storage, handling and application.

This approach to managing road salt use also explores new technology and practices in winter maintenance to reduce the amount of road salt entering the environment, while ensuring safety is not compromised.