The City of Madison Streets Division is going to apply salt to all residential streets in Madison Monday for the first time since the salt route policy was instituted in the 1970s.
According to a release, this is likely the first time that all of the streets have been directly salted since the ’70s. The action is necessary “due to the persistent layer of ice on many streets and the likelihood of a major winter storm arriving Monday evening.”
Roads are currently slippery and challenging for roadway users. With ice-packed streets, plowing equipment will be unable to push the heavy snow since there isn’t sufficient traction.
The decision to salt all roads comes after the salt and sand mixture was not effective in breaking through ice on roads. The Streets Division hoped that the small amount of salt within the sand would melt the ice, but that didn’t happen.
Neighborhood salting crews will apply less salt than on a typical salt route and will only apply salt to the centers of neighborhood streets.
Salt application started Monday morning and will continue into Monday night.
“Each street in Madison is a singular decision in response to unique weather conditions,” the release said. “The Streets Division will not continue to salt each street in Madison in response more normal winter conditions. With road conditions as they are, and the major winter storm coming, and considering the safety of all roadway users and plow vehicles, the decision to salt each street was made.”
