Surrey mixing salt with sand to extend de-icing stock

The City of Surrey, B.C., is choosing to err on the side of caution by mixing its salt supply with sand to ensure the supply lasts the entirety of this unusually cold Lower Mainland winter.

"This year, given that there's significant delays in salt supply to the region, we didn't want to take any chances," said the city's operations manager Rob Costanzo.

He said the city still has 7,000 tonnes of salt left which is more than the 4,000 tonnes it uses in a typical year.

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But, since the city has already used 12,000 tonnes of salt since early December, crews began blending the salt with sand before Christmas to make sure it lasts the winter season, Costanzo said.

"In a typical snow year we'll just use straight salt and that's easier because it really reduces the impact of clean up costs," he said.

Costanza said the city is on track to exceed the approximately 14,000 tonnes of salt it used during the big snowstorm of 2008-2009.

A number of municipalities in the Lower Mainland have been running low on road salt.

Cities like Port Moody have resorted to having salt brought from Saskatchewan, andwhen the City of Vancouver offered free salt for residents at local fire halls the supply ran out within minutes.

With files from Jesse Johnston