The mild winter has been good to Pulaski County’s road salt reserves.
Around 20 tons have been used so far, a drop in the bucket for what the county uses during a typical winter. So far, road crews in Pulaski County have only been out de-icing the roads a couple of times. More snow is expected in the area as the winter season progresses.
Pulaski County Highway Department Superintendent Terry Ruff says they’re in pretty good shape right now
“We’re not even sure we’re going to use our whole allotment, I guess,” says Ruff.
Previous winters have allowed Pulaski County to continue using salt reserves from last year. Once that supply runs out, the county may transition to this year’s road salt supply.
Over time, Ruff says the reduced salt usage could pay dividends for the county, such as smaller salt purchases in future years. This winter, Pulaski County has seen modest snowfall over a few winter storms in the area.
Ruff says Pulaski County is required to use 80-percent of its road salt allotments before seeing a reduction.
“We haven’t even went into our new allotment,” says Ruff. “It just rolls over from year to year. Worst case scenario is if we don’t use it all this year, we’ll just stockpile in the shed for next fall.”
Pulaski County has an enclosure to store the road salt, preventing the supplies from deteriorating.
Ruff says whatever the county doesn’t use on its road salt reserves becomes available for improving road conditions during the summer months.
