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Supplied by Carmacks Maintenance

What does Edmonton do now?

Edmonton uses sand on its roads, with about two per cent salt to keep the sand from clumping, said Jones. That creates poor air quality as cars crush the sand into a fine dust. It’s also relatively ineffective, with cars quickly pushing sand to the side of the road in high-traffic locations.

Edmonton applies sand during the storm, then plows, getting main roads to bare pavement within 48 hours. But that’s a long time and plowing leaves an icy sheen at intersections, said Jones. A second spot application of liquid calcium chloride would eliminate that, preventing ice for up to two days.

Getting main roads to bare pavement in 12 hours is possible, he said. “I’m hopeful we can do better than that, all within the same budget.”

Last winter’s pilot project found anti-icing increased friction and resulted in bare pavement on roads like the Yellowhead Trail. This year, the city will scale up as quickly as available equipment allows.

Photo by Bloom, David / Postmedia

What about residential roads, sidewalks and bike paths?

A 2015 study by the Western Transportation Institute did a cost-benefit analysis for sand versus calcium chloride, said Jones, including the research in his file to council. The benefit ratio for calcium chloride was 17 times higher.

If that holds true for Edmonton, “we should be able to take that same pool of money and reallocate it around the city,” said Jones. His team will develop plans for those aspects of snow clearing as they see how much money the anti-icing program will save.