A look at local roads during the city’s recent subzero weather proves Athens must be out of road salt.
It’s obvious the city has few snow plows, and city workers are using kitty litter to clear the city’s iciest roads.
Or at least, as rumor would have it.
“I didn’t know it would be this bad,” said Michael Somrak, a freshman studying journalism. “I don’t know if all of the rumors are true.”
As it turns out, Athens is not completely devoid of road salt, said Mayor Paul Wiehl, adding that the city is being frugal while city officials anticipate the next 1,200-ton shipment from Morton Salt. Officials aren’t sure when the next shipment will come in, as other cities are vying for the shipments as well.
Athens has 250 tons of salt on hand, after using about 1,800 tons this winter alone, Wiehl said. He added that officials speculate its overall salt dispersion to reach 2,300 tons this winter.
Somrak said he slipped on an icy patch Saturday while walking to his friend’s house on Franklin Avenue. He cut one of his fingers open.
Since then, he said he hasn’t seen the ice problem improve around sidewalks and streets.
Wiehl said he anticipates about two or three heavy snowfalls a year, and that at $57 a ton, city officials don’t like to overestimate on how much salt will be needed. In the meantime, the city used a mixture of sand and salt to de-ice the roads. Some say that’s where the rumors of “kitty litter” spring from.
The city has six trucks for plowing on hand.
Athens County Engineer Jeff Maiden said in a previous Post article that between sand and salt, the county has spent more than $140,000 this winter.
“(The Ohio Department of Transportation) has talked about displacing salt down here,” Wiehl said. “But they’re out too. Everyone’s out.”
The city keeps its salt in a reserve on East State Street, and Wiehl said it’s looking fairly desolate right now.
City officials have been working to keep the city’s hillier roads and major walking areas clear before others.
Some residents have tried to tackle the problem themselves, only to find that local road salt suppliers have empty hands.
Alex Mull, a manager at Kroger, 919 E. State St., said customers come in almost daily asking for road salt, but the store is all out.
“A lot of people are understanding about it,” Mull said. “It’s not a Kroger problem, it’s a Morton problem. All of the Krogers around here are out of salt.”
ODOT spokesman Steve Faulkner said state employees have driven 11 million miles on Ohio roads for snow removal and salt dispersal.
“We’ve used one million tons of salt. That’s more than we’ve ever used,” Faulkner said. “This has been an incredibly unexpected winter.”
Kyle Clem, associate director at OU’s Scalia Lab, said Athens can expect 1-2 inches of snowfall Friday evening and another 1-2 inches Saturday night.
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