TRANSPORT

Driverless shuttle hits the road

Wipe your shoes, wash your vehicles, Edmonton’s anti-icing road salt pilot project will be back for another year.

After hours of debate Tuesday, city council approved a third year of using calcium chloride brine and traditional salt to get to bare pavement on main roads. But the vote was close. A motion to cancel the project failed in a 6-7 vote.

It means the project is on a short leash. Officials have one more year to test their new techniques, trying to reduce the amount of salt from last year while launching a slew of tests to measure collision rates, corrosion and impact to city landscaping.

Many residents have complained of their cars rusting, winter bikes needing multiple parts replaced, and garage pads pockmarked this spring.

But city officials said salt is essential for getting to bare pavement, which is the safest road condition. The reduction in sand is also saving money and making the city look less dirty, officials said.

Coun. Mike Nickel led the push to cancel the pilot project, saying it was downloading costs to vehicle drivers and putting millions of dollars of city infrastructure at risk.

But others said there were a lot of benefits from the project and residents may need to adapt.

At least they aren’t having to replace windshields as often from cracks caused by sand and gravel, said Coun. Sarah Hamilton.

In cities like Ottawa, where they use much more salt, everyone simply carries wipes for their shoes and regularly visits a car wash, said Hamilton. It’s the trade-off for safer streets. “If we’re reducing slips and trips, accident rates, then it’s worth continuing with the pilot.”

CITY PILOT SEES SALT USE SPIKE

City officials used 36,789 tonnes of salt on roadways last year, in addition to the calcium chloride brine that got most of the attention. That’s up to three times as much salt as Edmonton crews used in other years with similar amounts of snow. The salt used had no corrosion inhibitor to keep it from rusting metal.

City officials said this year they ’re hoping to cut back on salt by 30 per cent while still getting the roads to bare pavement. They’ll do that by pre-wetting the salt flakes with liquid calcium chloride, which should help the salt to stick to the road better.

They’re also planning to try a new, molasses-based corrosion inhibitor in the calcium chloride.

Last year, the product city officials picked was supposed to reduce corrosion by 70 per cent. This year, the new corrosion inhibitor is rated at 90 per cent, and they hired an external consultant to run field tests to confirm its effectiveness.

VOTE TO CANCEL FAILS 6-7

Councillors Moe Banga, Jon Dziadyk, Tony Caterina, Tim Cartmell, Aaron Paquette and Nickel all voted to cancel the pilot project. Dziadyk said that’s what his constituents were clearly calling for.

But Mayor Don Iveson said council needs to give administration credit for trying new solutions and the space to get it right.

Coun. Ben Henderson added: “Being adaptable is the real key.”