I work in roads maintenance as my day job, and fortunately we do not put salt heaps on the verges. The main reason it is put there is so that the folk staying in rural parts that are not part of a classfied/priority route treatment area, can treat it themselves as required.
Last year we had the water tested in our balancing pond next to our salt barn, which indicated a higher than usual amount of salinity, but actually it had a higher content of beasties than some of our other ponds.It is amazing how resilient verges etc are, but areas that are directly under a pile of salt can take years to come back to life - therefore normal salt spreading operations don't have as much of an impact on the environment as you might think.
You might have heard about rock salt that is coated with molasses to make it last longer from the rain/dampness - but on the routes that this is spread on - you will find a lot of road kill, as the animals like the taste of salt and sugary coated molasses and so does Hugh F W.
Nevermind the salt - you wouldn't believe the amount of heavy metals that you would find in a puddle next to the kerb on the street (and all of us road users are to blame for that)?
If you canvass your local roads dept - they might stop putting out salt heaps, as budget cuts is playing a big part in operational tasks, and any decent excuse not to put salt out, will save them money.
PS - i do Motorways not rural roads
Topic: Environmental impact of gritting roads in winter (Read 11266 times)
