Winter & Road Salt: A Ridge to River Investigation

It’s winter in Vermont, and that means it’s road salting season. On January 14th, ~15 Ridge to River Taskforce member gathered on Zoom to follow up on conversations initiated through past Taskforce and Road Roundtable meetings and learn more about the topic of road salt. Kris Stepenuck, Extension Assistant Professor at UVM, shared a brief presentation that summarized the environmental, economic, and social challenges and the many perspectives associated with using salt to keep our roads, parking lots, driveways and sidewalks safe during winter months. She also described some best management practices that can be used to minimize the use of salt. The group discussed the challenges local road crews and budget decision makers face and the pros and cons of a few of the possible best management practices. Watch the recording here, and download Kris' slides here.

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