By KWGS News
Tulsa, Ok – After two winter storm events , the City of Tulsa still has 78 percent of the salt with which it began the snow and ice season in November.
The City had 9,600 tons of salt on hand in November and, with two winter storms so far, has used 2,030 tons of salt. Some 7,570 tons remain in the City's two street maintenance yards for use, if needed in coming weeks.
"We are in good shape, so far, with the salt we stockpiled before the season began," said Mayor Dewey Bartlett. "And we will continue to monitor weather forecasts and our salt supply in case we need to purchase more before warmer weather arrives."
"Our Public Works managers have already set up a delivery system with the salt suppliers, using delivery by rail, that can get salt to us very quickly if needed," the mayor added. "That's an improvement over previous years when we had salt delivered by long-haul trucking which can be affected by icy roads, just as local traffic is affected."
"The safety of Tulsa motorists is our primary concern," Bartlett said. "Will treat the streets whenever needed, but our salt supply is holding up well so far this winter..
Public Works street maintenance employees, augmented by employees from other Public Works sections who are called to drive snowplow and salt-spreader trucks when needed, have worked two winter storms so far this season, each of them three days in duration.
They have treated 22,249 lane-miles of arterial streets and plowed 5,326 lane-miles. The estimated cost of treating winter streets so far this season, including materials and labor, is $157,362. Some $25,800 of that is overtime wages.
The Tulsa City Council in December authorized an additional $300,000 on purchasing salt and paying for overtime for street-treating crews, but that money has not yet been spent yet because the supply is not running low.
In past years crews have had to treat Tulsa streets as early as late October and as late as early April, but typically the season of concern is from late November to mid March