COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The Ohio Department of Transportation says it’s looking for other ways to get more road salt after an effort to get more for communities running short drew no bids from salt suppliers.
The department wanted to buy 150,000 tons of salt for communities and then have them to return the salt after they replenish their supplies.
But no salt companies bid in the 10-day window that ended Friday.
The agency is acting to conserve its salt supply, but has enough to meet current needs, is receiving more and has not been swamped with requests for help from local communicates, according to spokeswoman Nancy Burton.
The crews of ODOT’s District 6, which serves Franklin, Delaware and six other counties, have used 95,000 tons of salt since Oct. 1 and still has 11,000 on hand and another 10,000 tons ordered, Burton said.
Clearing the roads of snow and ice this winter has cost the district $9.6 million, nearly twice as much as last year, Burton said.
With another round of winter weather bearing down on the state, the department now says it is considering alternatives to get salt into the state.
Ohio has used more than 880,000 tons of salt since the start of this unusually cold and snowy winter. That doesn’t include the salt used by local governments on local roads.