Many people agree that winter road salt plays a crucial role in creating safer sidewalks and roadway conditions. It works alongside other safety measures such as plowing and cautious driving to keep roads safe during harsh weather. Recent research has isolated the impact of road salting and found that winter road safety improves significantly when salt is used. Collision rates can drop by as much as 85 percent. A study titled “Safety Impacts of Using Deicing Salt,” based on six winters of Ontario data, found that road surface condition is the most important factor influencing roadway safety. The study concluded that a 10 percent improvement in road surface condition can lead to a 20 percent reduction in vehicle collisions. This factor proved more important than driver visibility or the amount of snowfall.
These findings have attracted the attention of public officials across Canada and the United States, leading many municipalities to rethink their winter preparation strategies. In Burnsville, Minnesota, street supervisor Doug Hartman told Roads and Bridges that he has changed the city’s approach to winter road maintenance. He explained that during extreme cold and hazardous conditions, public safety is the top priority, and residents benefit most from bare pavement. Burnsville has shifted from a sand-salt mixture to using pure salt as well as a salt-based deicer. With improved truck calibration and better control of application rates, the city has increased its use of salt and deicer products. As a result, Burnsville has experienced indirect cost savings while maintaining safer roads. Over 2,500 tons of deicer were applied across 250 miles of roadway, showing the effectiveness of proactive salting.
Preventative salting, which involves applying liquid deicer before snowfall, has proven to be especially effective. For temperatures above minus nine degrees Celsius, regular road salt is used, while colder conditions call for a specialized deicer that works faster and performs better in extreme cold. According to the University of Waterloo study, collision rates dropped by an average of 75 percent within just two hours of salt application. This highlights the importance of salting roads as early as possible during winter weather events.
High demand during the winter season can overwhelm suppliers, often at the time when salt is needed most. Draglam Salt offers winter sand and bulk salt mixtures, as well as pure salt and deicing products. To ensure you have access to the materials you rely on to keep roads clear, it is important to arrange your salt order before the first major freeze. Make road safety a priority, even when winter arrives earlier than expected. For assistance, contact the Draglam Salt 24 Hour Salt Hotline at 1-888-907-SALT. Salt is available for delivery or pickup across 12 convenient locations throughout the GTA.