Saw this on KATU news today:
In other words @StG58, @Stinger & @TJ4Jim, we're fucked.
The whining snowflakes in this latest Portland storm have managed to get ODOT to use salt due to all their whining and incompetence. So much for very little rust on vehicles in the Pacific Northwest.
This is just the start. They say it won't be used widely, but I know that's bullshit.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon Department of Transportation officials announced Friday they will expand the use of salt on state highways.
The decision comes in the wake of a winter storm that paralyzed Portland and surrounding communities Wednesday night.
"We've been listening to the communities where people get stuck for hours," said ODOT spokesperson Dave Thompson. "We've been watching the use of salt in surrounding states. California uses salt, Washington uses salt, Idaho uses salt, Nevada uses salt. We're the holdout."
Thompson was clear to point out the decision wasn't in direct response to this week's storm. Instead, he says the policy change comes after a 5-year pilot project where ODOT used salt on highways near neighboring state borders.
"Using the information we gained from four years of results of that project, we can definitively say that using salt does improve the road conditions," he said. "What we don't know is the extent of environmental or economic damage and we're still assessing that."
Environmental concerns have been cited as a primary reason for state and local agencies not using salt on icy roadways. Salt can be corrosive to cars and highway infrastructure, and there are worries about runoff polluting water.
"It's a big change," Thompson said of the policy shift.
While it is a big change, Thompson warns drivers not to expect widespread use of salt in Oregon.
"We can consider, we can assess using salt in other parts of the state in surgical uses," he said. "Not willy-nilly, not dumping i down like they do in the Midwest, but in surgical times as another tool in the toolbox that we haven't had up to this point."
Thompson also admitted ODOT used salt Thursday night on a 9-mile stretch of I-5 between Albany and Salem.
"That's the first time we've done that, as far as I know, in the history of ODOT," said Thompson. "We've never used salt that far north in the Willamette Valley."
That section of the interstate was under a 'chain-up' requirement at the time. Thompson says the use of salt allowed the agency to remove that requirement.
Logistics will make the use of salt difficult in any upcoming winter storms. ODOT officials say salt storage requires separate infrastructure facilities, which don't currently exist in most parts of Oregon.
"Because this is a surgical strike, we would need to truck our salt in from someplace else," said Thompson. "We do not have any infrastructure set up for storing or transporting salt in the northern part of the Willamette Valley. We only have our salt sheds along I-5 in the Siskiyous and all the way out on U.S. 95 in eastern Oregon."
Building local salt storage facilities could cost into the millions of dollars, according to Thompson.
"I don't want people to think that this is a magic bullet that's going to solve every situation and would have cured Wednesday night," said Thompson. "We don't know that. A surgical strike in some areas may have improved the really bad commute. It may not have."
The decision comes in the wake of a winter storm that paralyzed Portland and surrounding communities Wednesday night.
"We've been listening to the communities where people get stuck for hours," said ODOT spokesperson Dave Thompson. "We've been watching the use of salt in surrounding states. California uses salt, Washington uses salt, Idaho uses salt, Nevada uses salt. We're the holdout."
Thompson was clear to point out the decision wasn't in direct response to this week's storm. Instead, he says the policy change comes after a 5-year pilot project where ODOT used salt on highways near neighboring state borders.
"Using the information we gained from four years of results of that project, we can definitively say that using salt does improve the road conditions," he said. "What we don't know is the extent of environmental or economic damage and we're still assessing that."
Environmental concerns have been cited as a primary reason for state and local agencies not using salt on icy roadways. Salt can be corrosive to cars and highway infrastructure, and there are worries about runoff polluting water.
"It's a big change," Thompson said of the policy shift.
While it is a big change, Thompson warns drivers not to expect widespread use of salt in Oregon.
"We can consider, we can assess using salt in other parts of the state in surgical uses," he said. "Not willy-nilly, not dumping i down like they do in the Midwest, but in surgical times as another tool in the toolbox that we haven't had up to this point."
Thompson also admitted ODOT used salt Thursday night on a 9-mile stretch of I-5 between Albany and Salem.
"That's the first time we've done that, as far as I know, in the history of ODOT," said Thompson. "We've never used salt that far north in the Willamette Valley."
That section of the interstate was under a 'chain-up' requirement at the time. Thompson says the use of salt allowed the agency to remove that requirement.
Logistics will make the use of salt difficult in any upcoming winter storms. ODOT officials say salt storage requires separate infrastructure facilities, which don't currently exist in most parts of Oregon.
"Because this is a surgical strike, we would need to truck our salt in from someplace else," said Thompson. "We do not have any infrastructure set up for storing or transporting salt in the northern part of the Willamette Valley. We only have our salt sheds along I-5 in the Siskiyous and all the way out on U.S. 95 in eastern Oregon."
Building local salt storage facilities could cost into the millions of dollars, according to Thompson.
"I don't want people to think that this is a magic bullet that's going to solve every situation and would have cured Wednesday night," said Thompson. "We don't know that. A surgical strike in some areas may have improved the really bad commute. It may not have."
In other words @StG58, @Stinger & @TJ4Jim, we're fucked.
The whining snowflakes in this latest Portland storm have managed to get ODOT to use salt due to all their whining and incompetence. So much for very little rust on vehicles in the Pacific Northwest.
This is just the start. They say it won't be used widely, but I know that's bullshit.
