Edmonton hopes to cut back on calcium chloride use on roads this winter

The City of Edmonton will continue to use calcium chloride on its roads this winter, but it hopes to use less than last year.

The city gave an update on its snow and ice policy at a news conference Thursdayafternoon.
Calcium chloride, an anti-icing chemical, was used on Edmonton roads in 2016 and 2017in an effort to reduce collisions, but there are concerns about the effect of the anti-icing chemical on vehicles, infrastructure and the environment.

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Janet Tecklenborg, director of infrastructure operations, says the goal is to get to bare pavement and that will involve the use of salt and calcium chloride.

"Safety is very important but we also can understand that using these materials can have implications so we're putting together a very robust monitoring program as part of this year's pilot and that includes looking at the impacts on metals, on asphalts and concrete as well as continuing to monitor the environment."

Tecklenborgnoted that the city is considering adding a rust inhibitor to minimize the corrosive impact of calcium chloride.

"We're not necessarily changing the mix," said Tecklenborg. "We're taking what we learned from last year and we're optimizing it to try to minimize the impact of getting to bare pavement."

Tecklenborgdescribed calcium chloride as 'just one more tool in thetoolbelt,' along with sand, salt and plowing. The city is aiming to use less salt on the roads this year by using different techniques including pre-wetting salt and by being selective about where to use the brine.

"We want to minimize the amount of calcium chloride or sodium chloride that's needed to get to bare pavement by using best practices."

Snow and ice policy update

An update on the snow and ice policy will be presented to the Community and Public Services Committee next Wednesday.

A preliminary version of the report was presented to committee in July, but it did not include information on environmental impact or the full results of public engagement. The report to be presented next week will update the committee with results on both topics and propose updates, including new monitoring process and operating practices.

According to the report, the anti-icing pilot had "no discernable impact on the quality of the city's stormwaterthat discharged into the North Saskatchewan River." The report noted that about 4.5 per cent of the total chloride applied to the roads last winter was from the anti-icing brine.

The additional engagement findings included in the report are the results of an online survey, that was sent to the Edmonton Insight Community but also available to the public.The survey showed a large percentage of respondents were aware of the anti-icing program, but most had a negative opinion of the pilot .

City administration has recommended additional monitoring of the pilot and the impact of salt and calcium chloride on different types of infrastructure including concrete, asphalt, metal and vegetation.