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Western Pennsylvania municipalities see increase in salt use this winter

Jeff Himler

With any luck, Western Pennsylvania can finally say good riddance to the wintry weather that has lingered.

Left in its wake was a spike in road salt expenses and pothole repairs, but many municipal officials say that won't impede road paving plans this summer.

So far this year, Hempfield has spent $454,141 on salt and sand to treat more than 300 miles of township roads. That is just more than half of what was budgeted for all of 2018 and is a nearly 117 percent more than was spent in the first quarter of 2017.

The township also has spent 60 percent more than it did last year to patch potholes that proliferated during this winter's series of freeze-thaw cycles.

Those increased costs notwithstanding, Hempfield is “being more aggressive this year on our paving,” said Jason Winters, interim township manager. He said the township will take a two-phase approach to pave nearly 10 miles of roads with the assistance of a contractor, up from 7 miles last year.

“That main paving project doesn't include any in-house paving or tar-and-chipping we do,” Winters said.

North Huntingdon paved about 8 miles last summer and plans to resurface close to the same this year, according to Richard Albert, director of public works.

Unlike 2017, he noted, there won't be $100,000 left over from winter to add roads to the paving project.

According to Albert, the township spent $339,000 of the $440,000 in this season's salt budget and will need to spend another $125,000 to replenish its stockpile for next winter. “We usually start the season with at least 5,000 tons,” he said.

Supervisors in rural Unity and Derry townships saw a sharp increase in salt consumption this winter.

According to Supervisor Dave Slifka, Derry spent $105,428 on road salt this season, up from $54,330 in 2016-17 — even with a carryover stock of 400 tons.

Derry's cost for additional anti-skid material increased from $3,600 to $7,500.

“We are worse off this year because of the freeze-and-thaw,” Slifka said. “It's done a lot of damage to the edges of our country roads. You're better off with bad weather that lasts two months than this up-and-down changing oftemperatures.”

Supervisors have yet to determine what roads they will improve this summer. Slifka noted Derry can supplement its paving budget by tapping into money it receives through unconventional gas well impact fees.

“It's been a long, hard winter,” said John Mylant, chairman of the Unity supervisors. “We'd have highs in the 40s and 50s, and two days later it would be in the single digits.”

The township used 6,652 tons of salt this winter, at a cost of $417,706 — up from 4,195 tons and $263,433 in 2016-17. Unity also used 1,200 tons of anti-skid material to help treat its 154 miles of roads this season.

Unity has spent $4,836.67 in 2018 on cold patch material for filling potholes. It is expected to cost the township up to $100,000 per mile to mill and pave roads this summer. Unity applies tar and chips to some of its more rural routes.

Ligonier Township spent $57,337 on road materials this winter, compared to $27,284 in 2017 and $47,900 in 2016.

“We used more anti-skid materials because salt did not work for us on most roads,” township Manager Terry Carcella said.

The township maintains 96 miles of roads and plans to spend $900,000 on improvements this summer — including a bridge replacement on Clifford Woods Road and seal-and-chipping of about 15 miles of roads.

Greensburg doubled its spending on snow and ice removal — from $72,287 in 2017 to $144,820 this year — but stayed within the $200,000 budgeted each year.

That cost is budgeted separately from paving and pothole patching.

“So it should not affect the current paving plan that we hope to start in the next few months,” said Kelsye Milliron, fiscal director and city treasurer.

In Allegheny County, Monroeville's council agreed to draw an extra $1 million from its $8 million fund balance to address roads this summer, as a result of the winter damage.

Monroeville had a surplus of salt on store from past milder winters and didn't use all of the 6,000 tons it budgets for annually, municipal Manager Timothy Little said.

A 50 percent increase in cold patch material has been needed to patch potholes, he said.

Harrison Township started the year with 800 tons of salt and bought another 1,720 tons — about 500 tons more than anticipated. Still, the $121,000 cost was within the $140,000 budgeted, according to township Secretary Faith Payne.

Pittsburgh is on track to spend about $5 million on snow removal this year after budgeting $2.75 million. Between city and utility projects, nearly 55 miles of paving is planned this year. Mayor Bill Peduto in February introduced legislation adding $800,000 to the city's nearly $17 million budget for resurfacing streets.

Staff writer Brian C. Rittmeyer contributed. Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer.