End calcium chloride project

Over the past two winters, the city has experimented with a pilot project to spray calcium chloride (CaCl2) salt brine on arterial roads, ostensibly to reduce maintenance costs and improve roadway safety.

Instead, road maintenance operational costs have likely risen because, in addition to the cost of spraying the CaCl2, up to three times the amount of traditional salt was used. Although no data has been provided to demonstrate road safety has improved, spraying liquid CaCl2 prior to snowfalls may have prevented snow from sticking to pavement, making it easier to remove.

However, the brine residue also appears to change dry pavement to black ice when humidity levels are high during temperature inversions or foggy conditions, thereby rendering arterials less safe.

The other negative impact reported is that CaCl2 is much more highly corrosive than traditional road salt when exposed to concrete and steel.

The benefits and long-term significant cost implications of using brine CaCl2 were poorly researched prior to implementation, and then poorly evaluated during the two-year pilot project.

Rather than spending more money on a dubious venture, council needs to realize that calcium chloride is clearly a “dog that won’t hunt,” and terminate this misguided experiment.

Al McCully, Edmonton