Winter is months away, but the Oregon Department of Transportation is already gearing up for eventual bad weather by expanding use of salt to keep roads free from snow and ice.

There's no plan to use salt on Portland-area freeways, but the state transportation agency will leave the option open if storms get bad enough, said spokesman Dave Thompson.

"We won't use it unless we really have to," Thompson said of putting salt on Portland freeways, citing environmental concerns. "There is a time when we'll use it if the storm demands it and if it'll be effective."

Salt will be more readily used on more rural stretches of Oregon freeways -- in the state's far southwest and eastern corners -- where road closures due to snow and ice are more common, Thompson said.

He said salt usage areas will be expanded to a 200-mile stretch of Interstate 84 from Ontario to the tiny town of Biggs Junction, on the Columbia River, and a 100-mile stretch of Interstate 5 from the California border to Grants Pass.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedman