Salt use increases

If you want to avoid getting salt on your vehicle this time of year, you're going to have a hard time doing it. Iowa's roads are being salted in winter weather even more now. Des Moines tried more sand and less salt a few years ago, but roads were slicker and sewers got clogged. Since there is an environmental impact with salt....particularly runoff in rivers harming plant life...the public works department tries to use the least amount possible. But their number one concern is public safety, and that has them loading up. The transportation department spread nearly 250 thousand tons of salt on roads last winter.