The city is almost out of road salt and it's having trouble finding more to cover the shortage.

Repeated winter storms - and the December ice storm deluge - have used up all but two weeks worth of salt at normal application rates, said operations manager Bryan Shynal.

Hamilton's supplier, Cargill, has no extra salt to spare. So if the city can't find an emergency source, residential streets will go without.

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"We've had just an extraordinary demand," said Shynal, pointing out the city burned through most of its ice-melting reserves despite hiking this winter's salt purchase by half - from 60,000 to 90,000 tonnes.

"The fly in the ointment is a market-wide supply issue. Everyone is dealing with it."

Road salt is mined in Ontario in places like Windsor and Goderich, as well as in western Canada, New York State and Ohio.

Cargill spokesperson Mark Klein called this winter "unprecedented" for the number of snow and ice storms across North America.

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"This has resulted in strong and steady demand for de-icing products . since early December, with little let-up."

Shynal said he is still hoping Hamilton will find a different supplier with unclaimed reserves or another city with salt to spare. "We're asking: 'pass the salt.' So far, no luck."

He noted many nearby municipalities are dealing with the same severe season, which in Hamilton kicked off with a snowy pre-winter walloping Dec. 15, hit a low point in the ice storm at month's end and continued with a flash freeze in January.

Hamilton's winter snowfall so far, about 70 centimetres, hasn't come close to setting any records, said Environment Canada meteorologist Marie-Eve Gigu�re, but January has featured a sustained snap several degrees colder than the average.

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We might also be in for more snow this weekend or early next week, she said, depending on the path of a low pressure system brewing in the U.S.

With 10 weeks of winter left, Shynal said the city expects to hoard its remaining salt for escarpment accesses and major highways such as the Red Hill and the Linc.

Other city roads will get "a lot of sand and a little bit of salt," but residential streets will go without either.

"On those streets, we're going to try to meet service level expectations with more plowing," he said. "We'll be communicating with residents and reminding them to drive according to conditions."

That basically means slow down. Extra sand on city arteries helps with traction, but does nothing to melt ice, Shynal said.

It's hard to say exactly how the shortage will affect the city budget.

The city already has spent about $5.4 million on salt for this winter and any additional purchases will cost about $60 a tonne.

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More plowing to offset the lack of salt will also add to the winter control budget.

Public works general manager Gerry Davis said the city overspent its winter control budget by $4.4 million last year, thanks mostly to the December ice storm.

But he added previous mild winters allowed the city to build up a $7-million reserve, which will help.