How much it will cost taxpayers to clean up all that road sand

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It’s used to make your commute a little safer during the frigid weather we’ve had this winter, but just like everything else used to fight the snow and ice, all that sand on the roads will end up costing you a little bit more.

Even though it’s generally applied at the same time as salt, it doesn’t dissolve in the rain meaning it eventually needs to be cleaned up.
The practice is routine in places like Winnipeg and Calgary. “Our crews put down either salt, or pickle, which is a salt-gravel mixture, all throughout winter. They put down between 30,000 and 40,000 tonnes of that every winter,” explains the City of Calgary’s Brittany Kustra. “In the spring time, our city crews go around and they pick up, on average, about 50,000 tonnes of both winter sanding materials and debris on our roads.”

The process generally takes several weeks, but it’s necessary. “One of the big reasons we do the spring clean-up program is to help with the environment. It reduces water pollution, it prevents run-off of sand materials into our storm water system. It also reduces dust,” says Kustra.
Vancouver is still sprinkling sand on some roads but it won’t come close to the amount applied by Calgary.

Cleaning up the streets isn’t the biggest challenge says the City of Vancouver’s Director of Waste Management Albert Shamess. “I think the challenge we’ll have here is that we don’t normally salt and sand the laneway. Dealing with the laneways is going to be a bit more of a challenge and we’ll have to look at what kind of effort will be required to get the sand out of those areas.”

The city hasn’t tallied up the cost yet. “We’re starting to talk about what it’s going to take to clean it all up and starting to prioritize the work,” says Shamess. “We’ll have to look at what it’s going to take and how much it’s going to cost, but that’s something we’ll be doing over the next few weeks.”

Shamess adds it could be March until crews pick up the salt.

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